Monthly Supply Chain Pulse - 17

📰 Supply Chain Pulse | Monthly Edition – April 3, 2025

Your Go-To Source for Supply Chain Insights, Trends, and Actionable Advice

Supply Chain Theme of 2025: Success will be measured by resilience and cost efficiency.

📊 Key Metrics

Staying competitive means keeping an eye on the data that matters most. Here are six supply chain metrics that we monitor and will provide updates on within each newsletter.

🛳️ Drewry World Container Index (WCI)

The 40ft container shipping rate from Shanghai to New York seen another massive decrease in March of 29.34%. This is very likely due to the new tariffs the US has imposed on Chinese goods as well as fear of new tariffs being added, causing less demand for goods from this region, meaning less shipping as well. This is the lowest this rate has been in over a year.

🚚 DAT Truckload Freight Rate Index

The national average Van Spot Rate reported by DAT this week is $2.01 per mile. This rate has remained stable over the past three months, giving businesses a solid foundation for forecasting and managing domestic shipping costs.

🛢 Commodity Research Bureau (CRB) Index

The CRB index measures a basket of 19 commodities including energy, agriculture, and metals. It’s widely considered a leading indicator of inflation, economic health, and overall cost trends for goods across the market. An increase tends to signify an increase in economic activity while a decrease tends to signify a slowdown in economic activity. The index increased a small 1.39% this month showing a slight increase in economic activity.

🇺🇸 🏭 Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index

To create this index, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia surveys around 250 manufacturers, asking about factors like employment, working hours, new and unfilled orders, shipments, inventory levels, delivery times, prices, costs, and business forecasts for the next six months.An index level above zero signifies improving conditions, while a level below zero indicates worsening conditions.

We now have 2 consecutive months of large decreases in the index, with March showing a decrease of 30.93%. This value continues to indicate a pending decrease in manufacturing activities in the Philadelphia/North-East US region. This is a great time to start looking at ways to control costs in your business! Read more here.

🧾 Purchasing Managers Index (PMI)

The PMI is an economic indicator derived from monthly surveys of private sector companies, measuring the performance of the manufacturing and services sectors. It covers metrics such as new orders, inventory levels, production, supplier deliveries, and employment. A PMI above 50 indicates expansion, while below 50 suggests contraction. Keeping track of PMI data can help business owners anticipate changes in economic activity, demand for products, and supply chain conditions.

This is the second month in a row with a decreased value as well as being below the 50 point mark. Pay attention to this over the next few months!

🌐 Global Supply Chain Volatility Index (GSCPI)

The GEP Global Supply Chain Volatility Index tracks global supply chain conditions by measuring factors such as demand, shortages, transportation costs, inventories, and backlogs. A positive value indicates stretched capacity and higher volatility, while a negative value shows underutilization and reduced volatility. In February, the index fell slightly to -0.45, showing reduced volatility.

🌍 Global Hot Topic: OECD warns trade fragmentation could slow growth (Click To Read Article)

The OECD’s March 2025 report warns that escalating tariffs, persistent inflation, and geopolitical uncertainty are creating serious headwinds for global trade. Although global GDP grew steadily in 2024, momentum is weakening as policy shifts and trade tensions—particularly involving the U.S., China, and Europe—dampen investment and consumer confidence. The report calls for international cooperation and stronger domestic policies around education, skills, and labor mobility to prevent a sharper slowdown. Meanwhile, global headlines reveal growing economic uncertainty in Europe, rising mineral protectionism in the U.S., and renewed momentum behind free trade deals between the UK, India, and the EU.

🇺🇸 US Hot Topic:  Trump announces 10% tariff on all imports, with higher rates for some countries (Click To Read Article)

On April 2nd, President Trump announced a 10% baseline tariff on all imports into the United States, along with significantly higher duties for around 60 countries, including key trading partners like China (34%), the EU (20%), and Japan (24%). The move, described by the administration as “reciprocal,” is intended to counter foreign trade barriers and boost U.S. manufacturing jobs. However, financial markets reacted sharply, with $5 trillion in market value erased since February, and fears rising of a global slowdown. Exemptions include critical goods like pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, and select minerals not produced in the U.S. The plan also closes the “de minimis” loophole used for duty-free shipments under $800 from China and Hong Kong, a move partly aimed at countering the illegal fentanyl trade. Auto tariffs, semiconductor levies, and additional actions are expected to follow. This marks one of the most aggressive U.S. trade actions in modern history and signals further targeted tariffs to come.

Why It Matters:
These sweeping tariffs are likely to increase input costs, delay production timelines, and raise consumer prices in the near future. For U.S. companies—especially those using imported products in their daily operations or assemblies (which is nearly 100% of us)—these changes bring immediate pressure to adapt as existing supply chains come under pressure. Ena Source specialize in navigating complex supply chain disruptions like these by identifying alternative suppliers, optimizing country-of-origin sourcing strategies, and developing resilient supply chains built to weather trade volatility. The future of trade is uncertain, but strategic sourcing creates stability when the global environment does not.

📈 Giorge’s Stock/ETF Pick

$LLY – Eli Lilly and Company is a global pharmaceutical leader known for its innovation in treatments for diabetes, cancer, and neurological disorders. With strong momentum from blockbuster drugs like Mounjaro and continued investment in its obesity and Alzheimer’s pipelines, Eli Lilly is positioned at the forefront of healthcare innovation. As demand for advanced therapeutics grows and healthcare spending rises globally, $LLY stands out as a long-term growth opportunity in the biopharma sector.

• As always, it’s not about timing the market, it’s about time in the market

• Disclaimer: This is not financial advice or a recommendation for any investment. The content is for information purposes only, you should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

🚀 Your Supply Chain, Your Competitive Edge

Supply chains aren’t just about logistics—they’re about your bottom line, your growth, and your ability to outpace the competition. At Ena Source, we don’t just find suppliers; we engineer strategic sourcing solutions that cut costs, build resilience, improve reliability, and free up your cash flow.

If you’re curious how much you could be saving, let’s talk. No pressure. No cost. Just clarity.

📩 Click here to book a meeting. Resilient supply chains don’t happen by chance—they happen by choice. Let’s build yours, strategically.

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