I spoke with a CEO last week who has lost 37 customers over the last two years. He sells chemicals used in many metal processing plants. His customers went out of business when their customers started sourcing from Asia. Things may be looking up. According to an article in today’s New York Times, the cost of oil my result in a significant re-thinking of globalization.

It now costs almost almost three times as much to ship a container from China to the US than it did ten years ago, so large ships are slowing down by 20% to save fuel. Further, the capacity of US ports, especially on the west coast, is not growing nearly fast enough to handle all of the traffic resulting from outsourcing to Asia. That means additional increases in cost and slower and less reliable deliveries.

As a result, it makes sense for many industries to put factories closer to components suppliers and to consumers. That means that some businesses that have cut back significantly may start to grow. It means that capacity lost when businesses closed may need to be rebuilt. It may mean that established companies may need to relocate to to be closer to their customers.

This won’t happen tomorrow, but you can expect to see changes over the next several years. My guy is thinking about all this. He’s ready to take advantage of changing circumstances. Are you?