Eli5: how have supply chains not recovered over the last two years?

Question

I understand how they got delayed initially, but what factors have prevented things from rebounding? For instance, I work in the medical field an am being told some product is “backordered” multiple times a week. Besides inventing a time machine, what concrete things are preventing a return to 2019 supplys?

In: 93

Answer 1

The sudden drop in shipping demand caused shipping companies which rode the knife’s edge of solvency to fold and sell their ships for scrap. The economic recovery caused shipping demand to increase again. But with less available shipping capacity than before, companies are struggling to compete to get their goods to market.

Increasing shipping capacity means building new ships. Companies will be reticent to make such investments until shipping demands stabilize.