Fashion
US LMI sees fastest level of expansion since March 2022 in April 2026
This is driven by continued expansion in the freight market.
The US logistics manager’s index for April was 69.9, up by 4.2 points from March’s 65.7—the fastest level of expansion since March 2022.
Growth is rising at an increasing rate for inventory levels, warehousing utilisation and prices, and transportation utilisation and prices.
Growth is increasing at a falling rate for inventory costs.
Warehousing capacity and transportation capacity are contracting.
Transportation prices continue on their sharp upward trajectory (plus 5.6) in April to 95. This is the second-fasted rate of expansion for this, or any, metric recorded in 9.5-year history of the LMI.
Mirroring this movement, the April 2026 reading also features the second-lowest reading ever for transportation capacity, which is down by 10.9 points to 28.4.
The 66.6-point spread between transportation prices and transportation capacity is the largest delta ever seen. Taken together, this means that the transportation metric has never before been tracked getting simultaneously tighter or more expensive.
Freight markets were already on a strong upward trajectory coming into 2026; the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and subsequent increase in fuel costs have supercharged these movements.
While this is good news for carriers in the near-term, it remains unclear what the long-term effects will be. Inventory costs (74.7) and warehousing prices (72.2) both came in above 70, which is considered the threshold for ‘significant’ expansion.
Aggregating these three costs together, it is observed that upward movements in logistics costs are in at 242.4. This is the fastest rate of expansion since March 2022 and represents a 46.8-point increase from the much milder reading of 195.7 from December.
Previous readings above 240.0 for aggregate logistics costs have been strongly significantly predictive of future supply-induced inflation.
Freight markets have been resilient thus far, partly because low inventories have meant that firms need to keep goods moving. Interestingly, inventory level expansion increased (plus 7.3) from 52.4 to 59.8 over the course of April, corroborating other reporting that inventories have begun increasing as firms consolidate shipments to avoid transportation surcharges.
Researchers at Arizona State University, Colorado State University, Florida Atlantic University, Rutgers University, and the University of Nevada, Reno, and in conjunction with the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) issued the latest LMI report.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)