According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, conditions in the global supply chain have returned to normal after three-years of pandemic-provoked disruptions. Such is the conclusion from the latest monthly reading of the bank’s Global Supply Chain Pressure Index (GSCPI) which shows global supply chain pressures decreased considerably in February.

“There were significant downward contributions by the majority of the factors, with the largest negative contribution from European Area delivery times,” the bank said.

The GSCPI’s reading of -0.26 for February is the lowest since August 2019. It in fact indicated that global supply chain pressures have fallen below the historical average.

Launched in January 2022, this index uses a range of transportation cost data and manufacturing indicators to provide a gauge of global supply chain conditions dating back to 1997. The index integrates the Baltic Dry Index and the Harper Petersen index of containership hires, in addition to airfreight cost indices from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and multiple other economic datasets from the transportation and manufacturing sectors to “develop a parsimonious measure of global supply chain pressures.”

“The GSCPI’s recent movements suggest that global supply chain conditions have returned to normal after experiencing temporary setbacks around the turn of the year,” commented the  Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

(Photo  from Port of Los Angeles)