Supply Chain Research

U.S. retail sales fell by 6.2% year over year in March, raising the risk of rising inventories as consumer demand continues to collapse. U.S. seaborne imports fell by 8.7% in the first two weeks of April compared to a year earlier versus 9.9% in March, suggesting that an accelerating decline in retail sales could cause a rapid run up in inventories. Among consumer lines imports of apparel fell by 30.2% while those of furniture declined by 7.5% in the first half of April. Imports of electricals and electronics meanwhile fell by just 10.4% in April compared to 19.7% in March. There was pos...