In an interview with Bloomberg the Chairman of Yang Ming Marine Transport Corporation perceives big flows are easing where most others argue there is increasing friction (including a rather apocalyptic Monday analysis at Bloomberg). Please see interview excerpts in the video below (less than 4 minutes). Before joining the Taiwan-based shipping company in 2020, Chairman Cheng has served as a respected academic and government economist. Much of his argument for easing focuses on differentiating inbound flows serving China’s domestic consumption from outbound flows serving global consumption. He was not asked about and does not address upstream production cut-backs due to covid lock-downs across China. While Mr. Cheng and I seem to see similar behavior in current flows at Shanghai, he is much more confident (and optimistic) than I am regarding the trajectory for global demand heading into 2023. Or perhaps these differing expectations reflect our immediate contexts and angles: his in East Asia and mine in North America.