{"id":27625,"date":"2021-08-24T08:14:03","date_gmt":"2021-08-24T08:14:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/?p=27625"},"modified":"2021-08-24T08:14:03","modified_gmt":"2021-08-24T08:14:03","slug":"what-an-adult-tricycle-says-about-the-worlds-bottleneck-problems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/2021\/08\/24\/what-an-adult-tricycle-says-about-the-worlds-bottleneck-problems\/","title":{"rendered":"What an adult tricycle says about the world\u2019s bottleneck problems"},"content":{"rendered":"

Catrike has 500 of its three-wheeled bikes sitting in its workshop in Orlando, Florida, nearly ready to be sent to expectant dealers. The recumbent trikes have been waiting for months for rear derailleurs, a small but crucial part that is built in Taiwan.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re sitting on $2 million in inventory for one $30 part,\u201d said Mark Egeland, the company\u2019s general manager.<\/p>\n

The company\u2019s problems offer a window into how supply-chain disruptions are rocking companies in the United States and around the world, pushing inflation higher, delaying deliveries and exacerbating economic uncertainty.<\/p>\n

It is unclear when the snarls will clear up \u2014 and it is possible they will get worse before they get better. The holiday season is right around the corner, American companies are running light on inventory, and coronavirus outbreaks continue to shut factories around the world. Demand for goods remains strong as households use money saved during months stuck at home to buy athletic equipment, couches and clothing.<\/p>\n

That could keep pressure on global goods producers and the transportation routes that serve them even as consumers begin to redirect their spending back toward dinners out and theatre tickets \u2014 a shift that many analysts had hoped would help supply chains return to normal.<\/p>\n

The critical questions for economic policymakers are how long the problems will last and how much they will feed into consumer prices, which have jumped sharply this year, both because of data quirks and bottlenecks. Federal Reserve officials regularly say they expect the faster price gains to prove \u201ctransitory,\u201d but they are careful to stress that supply chains are a major source of lingering uncertainty, making it unclear how quickly rapid gains will fade.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m less in that \u2018transitory\u2019 camp,\u201d said Phil Levy, chief economist at Flexport, which tracks ocean shipments and helps importers plan so that their parts can get in by desired dates. \u201cAnd more in the \u2018we have reason to be concerned\u2019 camp.\u201d<\/p>\n

Container costs have rocketed up. Earlier this month, container shipping rates from China and East Asia to the United States\u2019 East Coast climbed above $20,000, compared with about $4,000 a year ago, according to data from the freight-tracking firm Freightos. Those attractive high prices are encouraging ships to abandon other routes, causing the problem to spread. And shipping issues have been exacerbated by related imbalances: Boats are backing up at ports, and as demand for goods booms in the United States, empty shipping containers have not been able to get back to China fast enough.<\/p>\n

Some suppliers are eating higher production and transport costs. Full Speed Ahead, which produces crank sets for Catrike, has seen expenses increase as the demand for raw aluminium has risen. Shipping costs are also four to five times what they were a year ago, said Mark Vandermolen, the company\u2019s managing director.<\/p>\n

Full Speed Ahead has passed \u201cvery little, if any at all,\u201d of those cost increases on to customers, he said, and he hopes to \u201cmaintain pricing for as long as possible until it is no longer sustainable.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Catrike has 500 of its three-wheeled bikes sitting in its workshop in Orlando, Florida, nearly ready to be sent to expectant dealers. The recumbent trikes have been waiting for months for rear derailleurs, a small but crucial part that is built in Taiwan. “We’re sitting on $2 million in inventory for one $30 part,” said Mark Egeland, the company’s general manager. The company’s problems offer a window into how supply-chain disruptions are rocking companies in the United States and around the world, pushing inflation higher, delaying deliveries and exacerbating economic<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27626,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[30,12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27625"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27625"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27625\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27627,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27625\/revisions\/27627"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}