For the first time in months, we are seeing highly encouraging signs from a number of angles that inflationary pressures may finally be easing. Gas prices, which soared to all-time highs of over $5 per gallon in June, have regressed to $4 per gallon. This decrease in gas prices has instigated a major cooling in the cost of shipping. Importers are now paying $6,632 to move a container from China to the West Coast, which is down from the roughly $18,000 that was being paid to move a container at this time last year. Eytan Buchman, the chief marketing officer for Freightos, said in an interview with The New York Times: “Broadly, it is clear that we are on a vector of normalization.”
Moreover, eCommerce prices have posted their first monthly decline since June of 2020, marking the end of 25 consecutive months of rising prices. The 1 percent price fall in July was led in large part by a 9.3 percent year-over-year decline in the price of electronics. Inflation is still highly elevated at 8.7 percent but it posted a promising .4 percent month-over-month decrease from June. Only time will tell whether or not all these factors are representative of a temporary stop-gap or the beginning of a long-term cooling period.
In other news, Blaupunkt, a car audio manufacturer based in Luxembourg, has announced that BP Americas will be managing the company’s business in North America and act as the sole partner for the region. In regards to the new agreement, Andrzej Cebrat, Managing Director of GIP Development said: “We continue to be thrilled with the trust our partners place in us and the Blaupunkt brand. We are excited to continue our partnership with BP Americas as they expand their business with us to include Car Audio in North America.”
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