Monthly Supply Chain Pulse - 22

📰 Supply Chain Pulse | Monthly Edition – September 8, 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.

 🎉One Year Of Staying Ahead Together

This edition marks 1 year of our newsletter and we just want to say thank you to all of our readers!

Over the past year, the world of supply chain management has been anything but predictable due to factors like:

1. Tariff Policy – With new U.S. tariffs, many manufacturers have been forced to rethink country-of-origin strategies and revisit cost models overnight.

2. The Reshoring & Nearshoring Surge – The push to bring manufacturing closer to home is gaining real momentum, driven by a need for agility, faster lead times, and reduced geopolitical risk.

3. Supply Risk Management Becomes the Norm – What was once a “nice to have” is now essential: companies are mapping their supplier dependencies, scoring risk exposure, and preparing contingency plans as standard practice.

4. Global Supply Chain Rebalancing – The old hub-and-spoke model is breaking down. New sourcing routes are emerging, new regions are rising, and smart companies are adapting in real-time to avoid bottlenecks and seize opportunity.

Yet through all this change, one thing stayed consistent: Your need for reliable sourcing and risk-mitigation strategies.

That’s why we’ve sent this newsletter every month, to help our partners in manufacturing adapt, stay informed, and make smarter decisions.

Here’s to another year of adapting, improving, and staying one step ahead together.

📊 Key Metrics

Staying competitive means keeping an eye on the data that matters most. Here are five 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 decreased by 3.9% this month, which is an annual decrease of 56%!

What to consider: The continued decrease shows that there is extra capacity in this lane. If you have goods in China waiting to move, this may be a smart window to act before rates potentially climb again due to Q4 holiday buying cycles.

🚚 DAT Truckload Freight Rate Index

The national average Van Spot Rate increased slightly to $2.09/ mile.

Why it matters: This minor increase doesn’t signal a market shift. With the holiday shipping season slowly approaching and weather changes on the horizon, a gradual upward trend is likely in the coming months.

🛢 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.

This month, the index increased by 2.1%.

What to consider: While this modest increase isn’t cause for alarm or celebration, it does suggest a steady baseline of economic activity. For manufacturers, it’s a reminder to keep an eye on material cost trends as Q4 demand picks up.

🇺🇸 🏭 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. Read more here.

In August, the diffusion index for current general activity dropped sharply from +15.9 to -0.3

Why it matters: While this swing suggests a mild contraction, the bigger picture is more nuanced. The past 12 months have shown volatility with frequent shifts between expansion and contraction but when zooming out over the past 3 years, the broader trend still shows gradual economic expansion. This points to a manufacturing sector that’s adjusting month-to-month but holding firm over time.

What to consider: This environment of fluctuation is ideal for strategic moves. It’s a strong time to negotiate favorable pricing, lock in production capacity, and firm up supplier relationships before holiday volatility or macro changes introduce new cost pressures or lead time issues.

🧾 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.

Why it matters: While not a dramatic downturn, this persistent sub-50 range points to ongoing economic softness and a lack of momentum in both demand and production. When the PMI holds just below 50 for an extended period, it often reflects business caution, slower capital investment, and more conservative inventory positions.

What to consider: This is a critical time to focus on operational efficiency and cost control. Evaluate your current supplier terms, renegotiate where possible, and reduce exposure to underperforming vendors. Strengthen relationships with reliable partners, and where possible, lock in favorable pricing or lead times. If contraction continues, those who prepare early will have the agility to move faster when the cycle turns.

🌍 Global Hot Topic: Tariffs cause 'unprecedented' disruption to global trade rules (Click To Read Article)

On Sept 2, the World Trade Organization warned that just 72% of global trade is now conducted under its traditional Most Favored Nation (MFN) rules, down from 80%, marking the biggest disruption to global trade governance since WWII. The shift comes as the U.S. continues to expand tariff use, with WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala citing “unprecedented” rule-breaking and geopolitical use of trade policy. While WTO raised short-term growth forecasts, it also cautioned that warehouse frontloading is masking longer-term pain that may hit by 2026, especially as U.S. funding cuts threaten the organization’s stability.

Why It Matters:
The decline of WTO norms means global trade is entering a more fragmented, politicized era and manufacturers should expect more tariff-driven shocks, supply uncertainty, and misaligned policies between nations. At Ena Source, we help our clients stay ahead of these shifts by identifying alternative supplier regions, optimizing cost structures, and building sourcing strategies that reduce exposure to geopolitical risk so you’re not caught off guard when trade winds shift.

🇺🇸 US Hot Topic: US economy adds 22,000 jobs (Click To Read Article)

The U.S. economy added just 22,000 jobs in August, far below expectations and the lowest monthly gain in over three years. The unemployment rate rose to 4.3%, and revisions to earlier data show nearly flat job growth across the summer. Manufacturing continues to feel the pressure, with four straight months of job losses in sectors like durable goods and business services. Meanwhile, wage growth remains steady at 0.3% month-over-month, but slower hiring is now a clear national trend.

Why It Matters:
For business owners, this report reflects a cooling economy, weaker labor demand, and rising uncertainty, especially for companies tied to manufacturing, logistics, or capital equipment. As demand softens and workforce availability rises, it may be an opportune moment to refocus on operational efficiency, recalibrate production planning, or evaluate hiring needs more conservatively heading into Q4. Labor stability may improve, but pricing power and top-line growth could come under pressure if this slowdown continues.

📈 Ena Monthly Stock Pick

$INTC– Intel is at the center of U.S. efforts to bring semiconductor manufacturing back home, backed by billions from the CHIPS Act and strategic contracts to build advanced fabs in Arizona and Ohio. The U.S. government now holds an estimated 10% stake in Intel, signaling deep national alignment with the company’s future. While competitors like NVIDIA get the headlines, Intel is quietly positioning itself as the backbone of domestic chip production, with long-term upside tied to AI, infrastructure, and national security. It’s not flashy, but for patient investors, Intel offers a mix of industrial strength and government tailwind.

• 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 supply chain 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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