<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The U.S. Jones Act, which requires that U.S. domestic ocean cargo is carried from port to port in ships that are...</div>

The U.S. Jones Act, which requires that U.S. domestic ocean cargo is carried from port to port in ships that are...

<div>The U.S. Jones Act, which requires that U.S. domestic ocean cargo is carried from port to port in ships that are built in the U.S., manned mostly by U.S. seamen and flagged in the U.S., should be repealed, Drewry Maritime Research said today. Jones Act defenders said the criticism took statistics out of context, and neglected the importance the U.S.-flagged fleet has on the nation's national and economic security.The Merchant Marine Act of 1920, which is known as the Jones Act, is getting increasingly expensive for U.S. consumers and no longer has the same level of political support that has...

The U.S. Jones Act, which requires that U.S. domestic ocean cargo is carried from port to port in ships that are built in the U.S., manned mostly by U.S. seamen and flagged in the U.S., should be repealed, Drewry Maritime Research said today. Jones Act defenders said the criticism took statistics out of context, and neglected the importance the U.S.-flagged fleet has on the nation's national and economic security. The Merchant Marine Act of 1920, which is known as the Jones Act, is getting increasingly expensive for U.S. consumers and no longer has the same level of political support that has kept it as the law of the land for the last 73 years, Drewry said in its Container Insight Weekly. What prompted Drewry’s opinion was the recent order by Matson for two container ships with capacities of 3,600 20-foot-equivalent units from Aker Philadelphia Shipyard in Philadelphia for approximately $209 million each. The order “underlines the possibility that U.S. flag protectionism is an increasingly expensive luxury,” Drewry said. Vessels of a comparable size could be built in Asia today for less than one-fifth of that price. The last time Matson ordered four 2,890-TEU ships at a U.S. shipyard, which were delivered between 2003 and 2006, they cost around $125 million each, which was around four times higher than the market price in Asia at the time. So the cost differential is getting larger. “The stipulation that U.S.-flagged ships must be manned by a crew which is at least 75 percent American must be a growing burden, although it is a small part of the equation,” Drewry said. Over the past 10 years, maritime wage inflation for container vessels between 2,000 TEUs to 3,000 TEUs has soared 31 percent, according to Drewry’s Ship Operating Costs 2012/13 report, reaching up to $2,306 per day, and it would have been much higher were it not for the increasing recruitment of seafarers from developing countries. Even China, which Drewry called “one of the most state-controlled countries in the world today,” is beginning to have second thoughts about the high level of protectionism afforded to its cabotage industry, and the European Union has already become home to a very liberalized and cost effective cabotage industry. Drewry said most coastal container moves between EU ports can now be carried out at a free in and out rate of less than $75 per TEU for ocean transport only, and there is no flag protectionism. Anyone can play the game, and many increasingly do between such regions as the U.K. and continental Europe, and between continental Europe and the Baltic. Approximately one-third of the container traffic handled in Rotterdam, Europe’s largest port in the Netherlands, consisted of feeder and short sea cargo last year, for example. The Jones Act renders transshipment of containerized ocean cargo between U.S. ports limited and expensive. As a result, efforts to establish short sea shipping services have floundered despite their lower carbon footprint, as compared to rail trucking, which dominates intra-regional U.S. transportation. Drewry's view is hardly universal, however. "The Drewry report is a weak attempt to use cost data taken out of the national strategic context of the Jones Act to construct a false narrative that fulfills private commercial objectives. said the American Maritime Partnership. The Jones Act supporter said the utility of lawg that protects economic and national security should be "best left to those who understand its importance, the U.S. Congress, not those who stand to gain economically from its repeal."

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<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The country’s trade commission originally fined 11 foreign carriers and 12 domestic lines following a three-year investigation that showed the lines fixed rates 120 times over a 15-year period on South Korea-Southeast Asia services.</div>

The country’s trade commission originally fined 11 foreign carriers and 12 domestic lines following a three-year investigation that showed the lines fixed rates 120 times over a 15-year period on South Korea-Southeast Asia services.

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<div class="phx-topic">South Korea's Supreme Court has backed the country's Fair Trade Commission in imposing hefty fines against 23 ocean carriers, including Evergreen Marine and Cosco Shipping, in a long-running anti-trust case over rate fixing on routes between South Korea and Southeast Asia. The fines totaled about $81 million when they were imposed in 2022, although currency fluctuations have reduced the dollar equivalent to $67 million. In a nine-page ruling, the five-member Supreme Court unanimously quashed rulings by Seoul’s high court to allow appeals by Evergreen and at least five other carriers that overturned the FTC’s fines against them. Evergreen and the other carriers, including HMM and Korea Marine Transport Company (KMTC), had appealed individually to the Seoul court. KMTC received the highest fine, equivalent to $21 million now. The Supreme Court judges said the Seoul court’s “judgment misunderstood the legal theory regarding the scope of application of the old Fair Trade Act" used by the FTC to penalize the carriers. That, in turn, affected the outcome of the judgment, the Supreme Court judges said. The case has now been sent back to Seoul high court for a new hearing and decision, a move that is likely to support the FTC’s decision to fine the carriers. The FTC originally fined the 11 foreign carriers and 12 domestic lines following a three-year investigation that showed container lines operating South Korea-Southeast Asia services fixed rates 120 times over a 15-year period between December 2003 and December 2018. While price collusion was not illegal under the previous Fair Trade Act, it could only be carried out in discussion with shippers and with the details reported to South Korea’s Oceans and Fisheries Ministry within 30 days. As carriers did not abide by those two rules, the FTC said the price fixing was “illegal.” Aside from Evergreen, the other foreign lines involved include OOCL, Taiwan carriers Yang Ming and Wan Hai, Maersk subsidiary Sealand Asia, and CNC, part of CMA CGM group. Contact Keith Wallis at <a href="mailto:keithwallis@hotmail.com">keithwallis@hotmail.com.</a></div>

South Korea's Supreme Court has backed the country's Fair Trade Commission in imposing hefty fines against 23 ocean carriers, including Evergreen Marine and Cosco Shipping, in a long-running anti-trust case over rate fixing on routes between South Korea and Southeast Asia. The fines totaled about $81 million when they were imposed in 2022, although currency fluctuations have reduced the dollar equivalent to $67 million. In a nine-page ruling, the five-member Supreme Court unanimously quashed rulings by Seoul’s high court to allow appeals by Evergreen and at least five other carriers that overturned the FTC’s fines against them. Evergreen and the other carriers, including HMM and Korea Marine Transport Company (KMTC), had appealed individually to the Seoul court. KMTC received the highest fine, equivalent to $21 million now. The Supreme Court judges said the Seoul court’s “judgment misunderstood the legal theory regarding the scope of application of the old Fair Trade Act" used by the FTC to penalize the carriers. That, in turn, affected the outcome of the judgment, the Supreme Court judges said. The case has now been sent back to Seoul high court for a new hearing and decision, a move that is likely to support the FTC’s decision to fine the carriers. The FTC originally fined the 11 foreign carriers and 12 domestic lines following a three-year investigation that showed container lines operating South Korea-Southeast Asia services fixed rates 120 times over a 15-year period between December 2003 and December 2018. While price collusion was not illegal under the previous Fair Trade Act, it could only be carried out in discussion with shippers and with the details reported to South Korea’s Oceans and Fisheries Ministry within 30 days. As carriers did not abide by those two rules, the FTC said the price fixing was “illegal.” Aside from Evergreen, the other foreign lines involved include OOCL, Taiwan carriers Yang Ming and Wan Hai, Maersk subsidiary Sealand Asia, and CNC, part of CMA CGM group. Contact Keith Wallis at keithwallis@hotmail.com.

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South Korea's highest court orders new hearing in carrier rate-fixing saga

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">A range of factors including full yards, labor unrest and carrier network changes are making it difficult for the hubs to clear container bottlenecks.</div>

A range of factors including full yards, labor unrest and carrier network changes are making it difficult for the hubs to clear container bottlenecks.

<div class="phx-topic">North Europe’s largest port gateways are continuing to struggle with persistent congestion that has delayed vessels and hampered container operations at the hubs for months. Full container yards, labor unrest, staff shortages and changing carrier alliance networks are among the challenges being piled on top of a steady inbound volume from Asia. “This is systemic by nature and will resurface on a regular basis,” Scan Global Logistics said in a market update this week. The Denmark-based forwarder also noted that the launch of the Gemini Cooperation between Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk “complicates efforts to sustain operational efficiency while the new rotations are phased in.” Kuehne + Nagel’s SeaExplorer visibility platform warned that “heavily disrupted operations” were being experienced at Antwerp, Rotterdam, Hamburg and London Gateway. A national strike in Belgium on April 29, the fourth strike in the country within the past few months, shut down the Port of Antwerp for the day as workers from the private and public sectors protested recent budget cuts made by the federal government. There were 19 vessels waiting to depart from Antwerp on Thursday and 20 waiting to enter the port. SeaExplorer noted that already congested yards there have seen a seven-day average vessel waiting time of around 2.19 days; Scan Global put the seven-day waiting time in Antwerp as high as seven days. <h3>Low-water advisory hampers inland shipping </h3>Labor shortages at Rotterdam because of national holidays is impacting container operations at the port, according to SeaExplorer, with vessels waiting for more than a day to berth. Intermodal operator Contargo told customers in an advisory Wednesday that average waiting times for the handling of barges were 71 hours in Rotterdam and 101 hours in Antwerp. A low-water advisory is also in place on the Rhine River, limiting the volume that can be carried by barges on Europe’s largest inland waterway connecting the industrial heartland of southern Germany to Rotterdam and Antwerp. Container delivery restrictions were imposed by Hamburg’s main terminal operator HHLA in April to tackle yard congestion. Vessel waiting times at Hamburg are currently up to five days, according to Scan Global. On top of ships being delayed in Hamburg, rail shipments are taking up to 10 hours to process and disrupting all terminals in the port. Intermodal logistics operator Metrans said trains to the German ports of Bremerhaven and Wilhelmshaven were experiencing long delays due to unplanned line closures around Hannover following a landslide in the area. Detour routes were up to 200 kilometers long and battling with overcapacity that was stopping trains and blocking traffic to and from Rotterdam and the inland rail hub of Duisburg. The disrupted train circulation was also having a major impact on service to and from Hamburg. In France, the Port of Le Havre is struggling to catch up with container backlogs following several strikes held in April, while the UK ports of Felixstowe and Southampton are also experiencing lengthy vessel delays. Contact Greg Knowler at <a href="mailto:greg.knowler@spglobal.com">greg.knowler@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

North Europe’s largest port gateways are continuing to struggle with persistent congestion that has delayed vessels and hampered container operations at the hubs for months. Full container yards, labor unrest, staff shortages and changing carrier alliance networks are among the challenges being piled on top of a steady inbound volume from Asia. “This is systemic by nature and will resurface on a regular basis,” Scan Global Logistics said in a market update this week. The Denmark-based forwarder also noted that the launch of the Gemini Cooperation between Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk “complicates efforts to sustain operational efficiency while the new rotations are phased in.” Kuehne + Nagel’s SeaExplorer visibility platform warned that “heavily disrupted operations” were being experienced at Antwerp, Rotterdam, Hamburg and London Gateway. A national strike in Belgium on April 29, the fourth strike in the country within the past few months, shut down the Port of Antwerp for the day as workers from the private and public sectors protested recent budget cuts made by the federal government. There were 19 vessels waiting to depart from Antwerp on Thursday and 20 waiting to enter the port. SeaExplorer noted that already congested yards there have seen a seven-day average vessel waiting time of around 2.19 days; Scan Global put the seven-day waiting time in Antwerp as high as seven days. Low-water advisory hampers inland shipping Labor shortages at Rotterdam because of national holidays is impacting container operations at the port, according to SeaExplorer, with vessels waiting for more than a day to berth. Intermodal operator Contargo told customers in an advisory Wednesday that average waiting times for the handling of barges were 71 hours in Rotterdam and 101 hours in Antwerp. A low-water advisory is also in place on the Rhine River, limiting the volume that can be carried by barges on Europe’s largest inland waterway connecting the industrial heartland of southern Germany to Rotterdam and Antwerp. Container delivery restrictions were imposed by Hamburg’s main terminal operator HHLA in April to tackle yard congestion. Vessel waiting times at Hamburg are currently up to five days, according to Scan Global. On top of ships being delayed in Hamburg, rail shipments are taking up to 10 hours to process and disrupting all terminals in the port. Intermodal logistics operator Metrans said trains to the German ports of Bremerhaven and Wilhelmshaven were experiencing long delays due to unplanned line closures around Hannover following a landslide in the area. Detour routes were up to 200 kilometers long and battling with overcapacity that was stopping trains and blocking traffic to and from Rotterdam and the inland rail hub of Duisburg. The disrupted train circulation was also having a major impact on service to and from Hamburg. In France, the Port of Le Havre is struggling to catch up with container backlogs following several strikes held in April, while the UK ports of Felixstowe and Southampton are also experiencing lengthy vessel delays. Contact Greg Knowler at greg.knowler@spglobal.com .

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No end to the congestion choking gateway ports in North Europe

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Lineage will acquire four existing warehouses in the US from Tyson and develop two other next-generation facilities where the food conglomerate will be the anchor tenant.</div>

Lineage will acquire four existing warehouses in the US from Tyson and develop two other next-generation facilities where the food conglomerate will be the anchor tenant.

<div class="phx-topic">Cold chain storage company Lineage will invest $1 billion in US warehousing “over the coming years” in a partnership with Tyson Foods. The multi-faceted deal, announced by Lineage on Wednesday, includes the acquisition of four existing warehouses from Tyson for $247 million and the development of two fully automated warehouses, with Tyson as an anchor tenant, at a cost of $740 million. The four existing warehouses, which offer roughly a combined 49 million cubic feet of storage space and 160,000 pallet positions, are in Pennsylvania, Kansas, Illinois and Arizona. Lineage will also be bringing on 1,000 Tyson employees as part of the acquisition. Under the deal, expected to close in the second quarter, Lineage and Tyson will also enter a multi-year agreement under which Lineage will design, build and operate two new fully automated cold storage warehouses for Tyson. The two warehouses will add more than 80 million cubic feet and almost 260,000 pallet positions to the Lineage network, which currently consists of 84.1 million square feet across 480 facilities in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. "This expansion signals what we see as the next evolution of cold chain operations and reflects the growing demand for smarter, more responsive supply chain networks," Lineage CEO Greg Lehmkuhl said in a statement. "We’re creating more than cold storage infrastructure — we’re setting the foundation for agile, intelligent supply chains built for resilience and precision." In Lineage’s Q1 financials posted Wednesday, the company recorded a 2.7% year-on-year decline in revenue and a 7% decrease in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA). Since Lineage’s <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/tpm25-lineage-using-big-2024-ipo-to-launch-companys-next-moves-5956592">initial public offering (IPO) last July</a>, the stock’s value has fallen 42% to $46.76 per share Contact Laura Robb at <a href="mailto:Laura.Robb@spglobal.com">Laura.Robb@spglobal.com</a>.  </div>

Cold chain storage company Lineage will invest $1 billion in US warehousing “over the coming years” in a partnership with Tyson Foods. The multi-faceted deal, announced by Lineage on Wednesday, includes the acquisition of four existing warehouses from Tyson for $247 million and the development of two fully automated warehouses, with Tyson as an anchor tenant, at a cost of $740 million. The four existing warehouses, which offer roughly a combined 49 million cubic feet of storage space and 160,000 pallet positions, are in Pennsylvania, Kansas, Illinois and Arizona. Lineage will also be bringing on 1,000 Tyson employees as part of the acquisition. Under the deal, expected to close in the second quarter, Lineage and Tyson will also enter a multi-year agreement under which Lineage will design, build and operate two new fully automated cold storage warehouses for Tyson. The two warehouses will add more than 80 million cubic feet and almost 260,000 pallet positions to the Lineage network, which currently consists of 84.1 million square feet across 480 facilities in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. "This expansion signals what we see as the next evolution of cold chain operations and reflects the growing demand for smarter, more responsive supply chain networks," Lineage CEO Greg Lehmkuhl said in a statement. "We’re creating more than cold storage infrastructure — we’re setting the foundation for agile, intelligent supply chains built for resilience and precision." In Lineage’s Q1 financials posted Wednesday, the company recorded a 2.7% year-on-year decline in revenue and a 7% decrease in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA). Since Lineage’s initial public offering (IPO) last July , the stock’s value has fallen 42% to $46.76 per share Contact Laura Robb at Laura.Robb@spglobal.com . 

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Cold chain warehouse major Lineage to invest $1 billion in Tyson storage deal

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">With demand expectations faltering, carriers have either jettisoned or substantially lowered the increases they were planning to implement beginning May 1, forwarder sources tell the Journal of Commerce.</div>

With demand expectations faltering, carriers have either jettisoned or substantially lowered the increases they were planning to implement beginning May 1, forwarder sources tell the Journal of Commerce.

<div class="phx-topic">The India-US East Coast market continues to remain bumpy for container carriers to drive any sort of material rate gains, industry sources say. Major carriers on the trade lane last month announced a series of rate hike plans, ranging from $1,000 to $2,500 per container, through May seemingly to take advantage of a potential upturn in shipper bookings linked to a 90-day tariff reprieve in place for Indian exports to the US. But with those demand expectations faltering, carriers have now either jettisoned or substantially lowered the increases they were planning to implement beginning May 1, forwarder sources told the Journal of Commerce. “As of now, volumes are low and spot space on most May sailings, despite a few upcoming blankings, is open,” said a sales executive at a Mumbai-based forwarding house who did not want to be identified. “There’s a sense of nervousness among carriers about their pricing ability.” A second round of general rate increases (GRIs) or peak season surcharges (PSSs) around the middle of May has also been put on the back burner in most cases, forwarder sources confirmed. “We have fully waived the May 11 GRI ($1,500 per container) to the US East/Gulf coasts and North America West Coast,” Hapag-Lloyd (India) said in an email sent to customers that was seen by the Journal of Commerce. Additionally, Maersk is understood to have canceled a $1,250-per-container PSS it was to begin charging from May 5 on loads from West India to the US and Canada. Sources put spot quotes from Maersk at $2,129 per TEU and $2,419 per FEU for early-May sailings, arguably the lowest level among the lead India-USEC operators. “Maersk has become unusually aggressive in spot pricing to fill its enhanced West India-North America capacity, forcing others to readjust rates,” a second forwarder said. Platts, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&amp;P Global, pegged India-US East Coast spot rates at $2,733 per FEU as of April 30. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="56199e2b-5df4-468f-a149-b18ae7c32e51"></dynamic-object></div>Maersk is also said to be using a new contract strategy of offering rates on a quarterly basis, generally with penalty clauses, as it aims to rebuild India-US market share lost to competitors over the last few years. Other major carriers have been somewhat tentative about pushing contract deals with customers due to the volatile market environment, sources say. “It’s likely that carrier rate plans will get pushed back again, until June 1, as a more moderate increase than what they have attempted now,” an NVO source said. On the capacity front, CMA CGM has two West India void calls this month on its Indamex service, schedule data indicates. The carrier is also reportedly considering discontinuing an existing Indamex stop at Sri Lanka’s Colombo Port due to volume pressures. Contact Bency Mathew at <a href="mailto:bencyvmathew@gmail.com">bencyvmathew@gmail.com.</a></div>

The India-US East Coast market continues to remain bumpy for container carriers to drive any sort of material rate gains, industry sources say. Major carriers on the trade lane last month announced a series of rate hike plans, ranging from $1,000 to $2,500 per container, through May seemingly to take advantage of a potential upturn in shipper bookings linked to a 90-day tariff reprieve in place for Indian exports to the US. But with those demand expectations faltering, carriers have now either jettisoned or substantially lowered the increases they were planning to implement beginning May 1, forwarder sources told the Journal of Commerce. “As of now, volumes are low and spot space on most May sailings, despite a few upcoming blankings, is open,” said a sales executive at a Mumbai-based forwarding house who did not want to be identified. “There’s a sense of nervousness among carriers about their pricing ability.” A second round of general rate increases (GRIs) or peak season surcharges (PSSs) around the middle of May has also been put on the back burner in most cases, forwarder sources confirmed. “We have fully waived the May 11 GRI ($1,500 per container) to the US East/Gulf coasts and North America West Coast,” Hapag-Lloyd (India) said in an email sent to customers that was seen by the Journal of Commerce. Additionally, Maersk is understood to have canceled a $1,250-per-container PSS it was to begin charging from May 5 on loads from West India to the US and Canada. Sources put spot quotes from Maersk at $2,129 per TEU and $2,419 per FEU for early-May sailings, arguably the lowest level among the lead India-USEC operators. “Maersk has become unusually aggressive in spot pricing to fill its enhanced West India-North America capacity, forcing others to readjust rates,” a second forwarder said. Platts, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global, pegged India-US East Coast spot rates at $2,733 per FEU as of April 30. Maersk is also said to be using a new contract strategy of offering rates on a quarterly basis, generally with penalty clauses, as it aims to rebuild India-US market share lost to competitors over the last few years. Other major carriers have been somewhat tentative about pushing contract deals with customers due to the volatile market environment, sources say. “It’s likely that carrier rate plans will get pushed back again, until June 1, as a more moderate increase than what they have attempted now,” an NVO source said. On the capacity front, CMA CGM has two West India void calls this month on its Indamex service, schedule data indicates. The carrier is also reportedly considering discontinuing an existing Indamex stop at Sri Lanka’s Colombo Port due to volume pressures. Contact Bency Mathew at bencyvmathew@gmail.com.

North American ports

India-US liners pull early-May rate hikes as capacity stays ahead of demand

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The Big Three oil field service companies, key drivers of breakbulk steel industrial project cargo, are bearish in their forecasts for the year as global economic uncertainty eats into profits and project pipelines.</div>

The Big Three oil field service companies, key drivers of breakbulk steel industrial project cargo, are bearish in their forecasts for the year as global economic uncertainty eats into profits and project pipelines.

<div class="phx-topic">With performance slipping in their latest quarterly results, the world’s three largest oil field services companies are bracing for a hit from the one-two punch of falling oil prices and US tariffs on the steel imports they rely on for rigs and pipelines.First-quarter results slid for Baker Hughes, Halliburton, and SLB, formerly Schlumberger Ltd., and the three Houston-based companies raised concerns about tariff-driven supply chain disruptions this year. The Big Three companies provide services and equipment for the oil and gas industry and are key drivers of breakbulk steel industrial project cargo.SLB CEO Oliver Le Peuch said yearly exploration and production spending is trending downward for the company following a “subdued start” to the fiscal year. In the company’s late April earnings call, Le Peuch said global upstream spend for 2025 will come in lower than last year, with a higher decline than previously anticipated. “The industry is navigating global economic uncertainty from the supply-demand imbalance and recent tariff announcements,” he said. “In this environment, commodity prices are challenged, and until they stabilize, customers are likely to take a more cautious approach to near-term activity and discretionary spending.”SLB’s first-quarter revenues fell 3% to $8.5 billion from a year ago, as gains in North America were significantly offset by a sharper-than-expected reduction in drilling activity in Mexico, a slow start to the year in Saudi Arabia and a steep decline in Russia.SLB expects to see new oil supplies as OPEC plans to increase crude production beginning in May. “This comes at a time when the macroeconomic picture remains uncertain due to global trade concerns, which have the potential to result in lower liquid demand than originally expected for the year,” Le Peuch said.<h3>Equipment, tech imports in crosshairs</h3>Baker Hughes is expecting a “significant challenge” from tariffs, with shipments from China for US industrial tech projects, critical equipment from Italy, and steel and aluminum facing the greatest exposure, according to the company’s Q1 earnings call. Baker Hughes is projecting it will take a $100 million to $200 million earnings hit from tariffs this year — assuming rates applied during the Trump administration’s 90-day tariff pause continue for the remainder of 2025.“We continue to monitor the evolving landscape closely and are taking proactive steps to mitigate the potential impact of changes in trade policy, particularly tariff rates,” Lorenzo Simonelli, Baker Hughes’s chairman and CEO, said on the earnings call.First-quarter revenues remained flat at $6.4 billion but fell short of expectations by $100 million. Overall orders fell 1% to $6.5 billion for the first three months of 2025 and were down 14% from the previous quarter. One growth area for the company has been industrial and energy technology, with $3.2 billion in first-quarter orders, up 9% from a year ago.“Generally, we see growing opportunities in North America for gas infrastructure driven by LNG (liquefied natural gas) capacity expansion along the Gulf Coast and AI-led demand for gas-powered data centers,” Simonelli said.<h3>Halliburton pulls supply chain levers</h3>Halliburton CFO Eric Carre said the company plans to rely on its “well-diversified” supply chain to mitigate the impacts of tariffs, which the company expects will eat into second-quarter earnings by 2 to 3 cents per share.“We need a bit more clarity and stability in the structure of tariffs so that we can really understand what levers we can pull, and then what the overall outcome is going to be,” Carre said during the company’s first-quarter earnings call.In North America, Halliburton’s largest geographic segment by revenue, revenues dropped 12% to $2.2 billion, while international revenues fell $2% to $3.2 billion. CEO Jeff Miller said that although the company will get a boost from upcoming offshore work overseas, international revenues are on track to remain flat to slightly down for the 2025 fiscal year.“While our overall international outlook has not materially changed, it is reasonable to assume that there is more risk embedded in our outlook today than three months ago,” Miller said.Reach Autumn Cafiero Giusti at <a href="mailto:autumn@autumngiusti.com">autumn@autumngiusti.com</a>.</div>

With performance slipping in their latest quarterly results, the world’s three largest oil field services companies are bracing for a hit from the one-two punch of falling oil prices and US tariffs on the steel imports they rely on for rigs and pipelines. First-quarter results slid for Baker Hughes, Halliburton, and SLB, formerly Schlumberger Ltd., and the three Houston-based companies raised concerns about tariff-driven supply chain disruptions this year. The Big Three companies provide services and equipment for the oil and gas industry and are key drivers of breakbulk steel industrial project cargo. SLB CEO Oliver Le Peuch said yearly exploration and production spending is trending downward for the company following a “subdued start” to the fiscal year. In the company’s late April earnings call, Le Peuch said global upstream spend for 2025 will come in lower than last year, with a higher decline than previously anticipated. “The industry is navigating global economic uncertainty from the supply-demand imbalance and recent tariff announcements,” he said. “In this environment, commodity prices are challenged, and until they stabilize, customers are likely to take a more cautious approach to near-term activity and discretionary spending.” SLB’s first-quarter revenues fell 3% to $8.5 billion from a year ago, as gains in North America were significantly offset by a sharper-than-expected reduction in drilling activity in Mexico, a slow start to the year in Saudi Arabia and a steep decline in Russia. SLB expects to see new oil supplies as OPEC plans to increase crude production beginning in May. “This comes at a time when the macroeconomic picture remains uncertain due to global trade concerns, which have the potential to result in lower liquid demand than originally expected for the year,” Le Peuch said. Equipment, tech imports in crosshairs Baker Hughes is expecting a “significant challenge” from tariffs, with shipments from China for US industrial tech projects, critical equipment from Italy, and steel and aluminum facing the greatest exposure, according to the company’s Q1 earnings call. Baker Hughes is projecting it will take a $100 million to $200 million earnings hit from tariffs this year — assuming rates applied during the Trump administration’s 90-day tariff pause continue for the remainder of 2025. “We continue to monitor the evolving landscape closely and are taking proactive steps to mitigate the potential impact of changes in trade policy, particularly tariff rates,” Lorenzo Simonelli, Baker Hughes’s chairman and CEO, said on the earnings call. First-quarter revenues remained flat at $6.4 billion but fell short of expectations by $100 million. Overall orders fell 1% to $6.5 billion for the first three months of 2025 and were down 14% from the previous quarter. One growth area for the company has been industrial and energy technology, with $3.2 billion in first-quarter orders, up 9% from a year ago. “Generally, we see growing opportunities in North America for gas infrastructure driven by LNG (liquefied natural gas) capacity expansion along the Gulf Coast and AI-led demand for gas-powered data centers,” Simonelli said. Halliburton pulls supply chain levers Halliburton CFO Eric Carre said the company plans to rely on its “well-diversified” supply chain to mitigate the impacts of tariffs, which the company expects will eat into second-quarter earnings by 2 to 3 cents per share. “We need a bit more clarity and stability in the structure of tariffs so that we can really understand what levers we can pull, and then what the overall outcome is going to be,” Carre said during the company’s first-quarter earnings call. In North America, Halliburton’s largest geographic segment by revenue, revenues dropped 12% to $2.2 billion, while international revenues fell $2% to $3.2 billion. CEO Jeff Miller said that although the company will get a boost from upcoming offshore work overseas, international revenues are on track to remain flat to slightly down for the 2025 fiscal year. “While our overall international outlook has not materially changed, it is reasonable to assume that there is more risk embedded in our outlook today than three months ago,” Miller said. Reach Autumn Cafiero Giusti at autumn@autumngiusti.com .

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The world of LTL is slow to embrace change. Business anachronisms permeate current supply chain processes. These vestiges of the way things used to work define the LTL freight transportation procurement process of many modern shippers.David Knuth, logistics specialist at IEWC, a global supplier of cable and wire based in Wisconsin, is happy to have modernized the RFP process, automating the entire LTL bidding procedure with Bid$ense, SMC³’s automated truckload and LTL freight transportation sourcing solution. But when prompted, he can still recall what once was.In his previous job, a large part of his duties were consumed by creating an intermodal bid package for carriers. In a spreadsheet, Knuth detailed the company’s volumes lane by lane, taking care to delete any errant keystrokes or misleading data. He would then email out the information to each carrier, taking time to respond to detailed technical questions about the spreadsheet data. Finally, he had to compile all the results, create an algorithm that would compare the carriers on each lane, and award the business.“It was a huge undertaking. It took about four months to do,” Knuth said of the old process. “It was almost a full-time job for that part of the year, every year.”In his new job at IEWC, he sat down with Bid$ense on day one and was amazed at the capabilities. Knuth had never before used a bid tool. SMC³’s latest versions of Bid$ense automate the process even further, taking truckload and LTL RFPs entirely online. The tool draws on RFP best-practices protocols to streamline the bidding communication process, enabling bidding carriers to respond accurately and promptly to shipper requests. The solution also does all the distribution work automatically, electronically submitting shipper bid data to carriers based on their actual service capabilities and performance records. Carriers are alerted with timely prompts for RFP deliverables, so shippers aren’t waiting by the phone for responses.Another benefit of automating the process is the data-cleansing assistance. When Knuth sent spreadsheets to carriers, data errors might cloud the bidding process; he might have to resend data or simply accept a price that did not truly reflect the costs of doing business. Data cleansing is incredibly beneficial, he said.The spreadsheet technique also made bidding analysis an onerous task. Since Bid$ense automates and streamlines the entire RFP process, intensive examination is now simple. SMC³ knows that each bid has more than one best outcome. With uniform responses from each carrier, shippers can quickly rank results and create an unlimited quantity of what-if scenarios to make the optimal procurement decision.Jesse Burnett of Central Garden &amp; Pet experiences many of the same benefits. Founded in 1980, Central Garden &amp; Pet has spent the last three decades growing from a small garden supply company to a provider of a range of products from dog chews and bird seed to soil supplements and natural insecticides. For much of its life, the company shipped these disparate goods via LTL and truckload carriers to retailers throughout the country, relying on each business unit to negotiate directly with their freight transportation providers. This arrangement worked fairly well for a small company, but as Central Garden &amp; Pet expanded, leadership decided to consolidate decision making.Burnett helped centralize the transportation decision making in 2015 with SMC³’s Bid$ense. Before Bid$ense, every business unit operated independently as far as negotiating with carriers.“There were a lot of different things just floating around,” he said. “We didn’t have master agreements in place; no national pricing at all. The pricing from carriers was just all over the place, depending on where you were.”The transformations he saw with Bid$ense were immediate. Burnett has been using the tool about every other year since its implementation at the company. Central Garden and Pet’s $19.6 million 2019 LTL bid saved the company just more than 9 percent when compared to its historical average. For Burnett, though, bid automation extends far beyond savings.“We knew that we weren’t getting the best pricing offer from our carriers just because nothing was centralized,” he continued. “We knew that if we combined everything from all these business units and paired it with one corporate offering, then it would drive some cost benefit with it.”When the company initially decided to centralize bid procurement, executives researched a number of different methodologies and technologies. In the end, though, Burnett found that Bid$ense was both widespread and well known, and that his carrier partners already knew how to use the application. Burnett also highlighted the data-cleansing process as a major benefit, saying the rigorous process ensures that carriers always return the best price.“It definitely has helped drive savings,” he said. “Any time you go out there and you drive that competitiveness with the carriers and they know they’re in a bid environment, it seems to sharpen their pencils.”Transportation procurement is an integral part of the modern supply chain. With Bid$ense, shippers can develop a strategic implementation plan that saves them time and money, but also helps them create strong relationships with their carrier partners. These carriers appreciate the solution’s data-cleansing process; when carriers receive a complete shipment history and future volume forecast, they don’t have to guess on pricing. Carriers that receive more data from shippers get a complete picture of that shipper’s freight, allowing them to accurately plan instead of simply preparing for the worst-case scenario. Clean data presented through an automated system can lead to both bigger shipment savings and a lasting partnership between carrier and customer.Whether customers are looking to streamline over-the-road transportation bidding by automating the RFP process or create an entirely new, centralized sourcing process, Bid$ense has the analytical horsepower to get the job done.SMC³ 2020 Customer Case Study

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Shippers save money, time with automated transportation bidding tools

If there’s one immutable truth in the world of logistics, it’s this: LTL is an inherently complex form of transportation. Tariffs, rates, DIM weights, transit times — it’s enough to confuse even seasoned logistics professionals. The solution to this knowledge gap has historically been on-the-job training or university supply chain education, but for a variety of reasons there is now a pressing need for third-party, remote LTL training that prepares logistics workers for transportation success. Global Scope Can Overlook Local Intricacies In the past, professionals looking to move into a supply chain career learned about the basics of supply chain from universities. However, many of these college supply chain programs are now global in scope, focusing on worldwide supply chain management instead of the intricacies of specialized domestic transportation. And even these programs, which used to be widespread, are becoming less common. LTL is not an industry of broad-brush strokes; supply chain professionals really need a pointillistic understanding of the logistics of LTL in order to excel in the industry. Accelerating Need for Dedicated LTL Education This lack of specified training put the onus on employers to prepare new hires with the LTL knowledge needed to do their jobs. Dedicated LTL study is a necessity, not a luxury. At the same time, changes in LTL and the broader supply chain world are accelerating. The reliance on e-commerce has ballooned since the start of the pandemic, and last-mile LTL shipments and related e-commerce strains on the supply chain won’t diminish once social distancing abates. That genie isn’t going back into the bottle. So supply chain employers need logistics workers that are fully versed in all aspects of the industry, ready to solve unique shipping and delivery problems based on their extensive supply chain knowledge But why care about LTL? It’s been reported that some shippers in today’s world are no longer concerned with what mode is used to ship their goods. A Multimodal Approach Ensures On-Time Delivery This mode agnosticism means supply chain stakeholders have to be well versed in all modes of transportation. As unforeseen weather events and other disruptions, such as protests, become more common, savvy logistics employees will need to be armed with familiarity of all modes, not just the most popular, to ensure that freight is delivered on time, without damage, and in the most financially expedient way possible. Offerings like SMC³’s LTL online education courses cover a wide range of topics from LTL basics and operations to more advanced concepts like pricing analytics and transportation law. The company also has plans to continually refresh content, adding new expert presenters and taking the feedback of students to make the courses even better as time goes on. Learn more about&nbsp;<a href="https://logisticstrainingcenter.com/smc3-courses/" rel="noreferrer" class="joc_admin__link">SMC³’s LTL Online Education program</a>&nbsp;and view the 2021 hybrid schedule, featuring live industry experts,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.smc3.com/onlinelearning2021/" rel="noreferrer" class="joc_admin__link">here.</a>

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