The head of the second-biggest US port expects the pandemic-era surge in consumer demand that snarled supply chains will start to cool, with evidence of a deceleration already reflected in weaker inbound container arrivals, Bloomberg reports.

Imports into Long Beach have now fallen for two months. Meanwhile, the neighboring port of Los Angeles registered the biggest decline in inbound cargo since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic in August. Together, the twin operations handle about 40% of containerized trade with Asia.

“You’re going to start seeing the economy cool down a little bit,” Port of Long Beach Executive Director Mario Cordero said in an interview on Bloomberg Television Monday.

“We expect some diminishment in what we’ve seen in this consumer demand in the last year and a half.”

The most recent data show US consumer spending and retail sales rising at a sluggish pace, a sign that the hottest inflation in almost four decades is starting to take its toll on the economy.

Ports had for months been overwhelmed by an influx of goods that triggered supply-chain logjams and delivery delays, but that is showing signs of abating due to logistics improvements and as interest-rate increases are starting to cool demand.

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