US Logistics Managers’ Index rises to 71.1 in June 2026, its first reading above 70.0 since March 2022.
Faster inventory growth, led by larger respondents and downstream retailers, tightens warehousing capacity and lifts utilisation.
Transport prices remain sharply expansionary at 92.4 while capacity compresses, signalling cost pressure for sourcing and delivery teams.
The increase was stronger among larger respondents, with an inventory reading of 68.6 compared with 55.6 for small respondents, and among downstream retailers at 66 compared with 59.1 upstream.
The inventory expansion accelerated from 55.4 early in June to 66.3 later in the month.
Higher inventories pushed Warehousing Utilisation up 6.5 points, Warehousing Prices up 3 points and Transportation Utilisation up 5.2 points, while Warehousing Capacity fell 3 points to 47.5, the report added.
For sourcing operations, the mix points to tighter storage availability as goods move ahead of peak-season demand.
Transportation remained under pressure as prices eased 3.6 points from May’s 96-described in the report as the fastest expansion ever recorded for any LMI metric—but still stood at 92.4 in June. Transportation Capacity compressed by 0.9 point to 30.8, while Transportation Utilisation increased 5.2 points to 74.7.
The report said retailer-led inventory growth may reflect resilient first-half consumer spending and a pull-forward of goods before possible tariff increases later in July. It added that trade policy remains uncertain, citing the expiry of a trade deal between the US, Canada and Mexico on July 1 and uncertainty around US-European trade.
The LMI is based on eight components across inventory, warehousing and transportation, and readings above 50.0 indicate expansion.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk
