The Logistics Managers’ Index rose to 58.8 in April, up 1.7 pts from March, reflecting ongoing expansion driven by rising storage and transportation costs despite slower inventory growth.

• Inventory Costs jumped 5.0 pts to 75.6 and Warehousing Prices surged 11.2 pts to 72.3, suggesting stagnant inventory is becoming expensive to hold as it has not yet been sold to consumers.
• “The movements in inventories we observed from January to mid-March are very similar to the movements we would normally see from August to mid-October. The difference being that when inventories crest in mid-October, it is because they are about to be sold during the holiday season. The inventories that have been built up now will likely be sold more slowly, leading to higher storage costs across the board.”

• Inventory Levels slowed to 57.1 (-4.1 pts MoM) as the Q1 tariff-driven buildup eased; Warehousing Capacity rose slightly to 55.4.
• Transportation Prices climbed 5.9 pts to 62.3, driven largely by Downstream firms, while Transportation Utilization edged down -0.7 pts to 53.3.
• Downstream firms anticipate sharp increases in Inventory Costs (forecast at 94.0) and Warehousing Prices (84.8), compared to more modest forecasts from Upstream respondents.
• Future LMI expansion is expected at 60.6, unchanged from March, with a pronounced divergence between bullish retail-level (Downstream) and cautious industrial (Upstream) outlooks.
• In the next year, upstream respondents expect a significant decline in inventories while Downstream respondents expect a significant increase in inventories.