Supply Chain Research

Expeditors International reported a 54.9% jump in Q4’20 revenues, beating consensus estimates by 24.6 percentage points as the freight forwarder delivered a 19.0% rise in ocean freight deliveries on top of the increase in global shipping rates. The firm’s CEO, Jeffrey Muster, has indicated that “port congestion from labor and equipment shortages have significantly disrupted sailing schedules” and expects “the pressure on buy rates to remain elevated until those conditions subside”. The growth in volumes handled by Expeditors has likely continued in Q1’21 with U.S. seaborne imports linked...