Supply chain

Container terminals in Hong Kong have joined Maersk Line in calling for the territory’s government to address competition law concerns that threaten to make the liner business illegal from next year.

Yusen Logistics and Mazda have begun a joint venture intended to increase the efficiency of Mazda’s global supply chain as the automotive industry in Asia continues to grow.

The American Trucking Associations said it remained optimistic about future emissions regulations that could result in higher costs for shippers when combined with other recent regulations affecting the trucking industry.

China has fined 21 container carriers a total of RMB 4.25 million ($684,000) for providing customers in the China-Japan trade with rates below officially quoted levels.

Tanzania has instituted a 1.5 percent levy on all imports to fund rail projects intended to bolster national and international connectivity.

Global economic uncertainty and a slowing China continues to hang over cargo markets, with air and ocean transportation providers struggling to match capacity to demand while having little visibility going into the second half of 2015.

UPS has begun the construction of a new healthcare distribution center in the Netherlands a month after it opened a pharmaceuticals freight forwarding facility at Amsterdam Schiphol airport.

Pricing pressure is building on forwarders as they struggle to hold on to margins in the face of collapsing freight rates on some of the major trade routes.

A U.S. trade group representing public port authorities Thursday voiced caution over new legislation aimed at providing Congress with a database of port performance metrics in order to avoid a repeat of the crippling West Coast longshore labor negotiations earlier this year.

The U.S. Coast Guard has unveiled a new cybersecurity plan, the latest in an ongoing effort to protect U.S seaports and the commercial vessels that berth there from the rising risk of cyberattack.

The former president of Con-way Freight will lead one of the largest temperature-controlled logistics companies as demand for cold-chain services grows.

Michigan-based third-party logistics and multimodal transportation firm Radiant Global Logistics last week acquired not one but two logistics providers: New York-based Service By Air and Kentucky-based Highways and Skyways.

FedEx reported its first quarterly loss since 2009, thanks to a $2.2 billion pension-related pre-tax charge that bit deep into earnings. Unfavorable exchange rates, a drop in international priority volume and low fuel surcharge revenue also stung the global transport operator.

Plans to invest 198.4 billion reais ($63.83 billion) in infrastructure concession projects have been announced in Brazil this past week by President Dilma Rousseff. Roughly 37.4 billion reais is expected to be invested in the port sector.

In an ominous sign for its export-reliant economy, Japan’s red-hot merchandise trade with the United States lost some steam in May after expanding by more than 20 percent in March and April.

The U.S. government needs to take on sweeping reforms and new national policies if it intends to address the mounting congestion at the nation’s major port cities, the Brookings Institution said in a pair of new reports released today.

Toys“R”Us has opened a 550,000-square-foot distribution center in Saint-Fargeau-Ponthierry, France, to consolidate operations previously performed by three fulfillment centers in the country.

India’s merchandise exports fell for the sixth consecutive month in May, the longest streak of declines since 2009, even as the Narendra Modi-led government rolled out a spate of schemes to stimulate manufacturing output and spur domestic demand.

New global requirements on the construction of large container vessels aimed at reducing the risk of catastrophic structural failure will likely increase the price tag for carriers, reducing the economies of scale carrier operators gain via massive ships.

A look at the accompanying graphic reveals the integrated and complex nature of China’s state-owned shipping ownership structure — a dizzying maze of companies and subsidiaries, many interconnected and several with dual listings on the Hong Kong and Shanghai exchanges.

UPS Capital, a subsidiary of the same-named parcel carrier, recently announced its acquisition of Parcel Pro, the leading independent logistics provider for the jewelry, wristwatch and collectibles industries. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

More than a dozen non-vessel-operating common carries have endorsed further changes to U.S. Federal Maritime Commission’s rules governing NVOs’ contracts with shippers.

Developers of industrial real estate are expanding their portfolios beyond big-box distribution centers for supply chain logistics to include manufacturing facilities and warehouses to serve manufacturers in the U.S. and Mexico.

Automotive part shippers can tap a new less-than-containerload service offering faster service between China and Japan by bypassing Hong Kong.

The U.S. Congress stymied President Obama’s trade agenda Friday, after the House of Representatives failed to approve a key portion of a trade package that would have given Obama the ability to fast-track trade deals, including a high-profile treaty with Pacific Rim nations.

From New Jersey to California, developers of industrial real estate face a slew of environmental regulations and oftentimes community pushback when they announce plans for a new warehouse or distribution center. While the odds seem stacked against the developers, more often than not they are able to deliver a project.

The industrial real estate market is tight, causing rents and land prices to increase, which will eventually lead to higher costs for users as the market reaches saturation.

Global logistics provider DHL is ramping up operations in India, introducing a weekly truck service between Ahmedabad and Nhava Sheva to lead its less-than-containerload consolidation business.

A test of 20 top freight forwarders’ online services produced a dismal set of results and revealed the distance still to be travelled before logistics companies are ready to offer efficient automated bookings.

U.S. shippers are set to regain access to duty-free imports from developing countries after Congress renewed the country’s Generalized System of Preferences program.

When it came to influencing the flow of U.S. maritime container traffic, West Coast longshoremen owned 2014 (and the first two months of 2015). The standoff with waterfront employers crippled West Coast container traffic and sent surges of volume through Canadian and U.S. East and Gulf Coast ports.

CEVA has launched a weekly less-than-containerload service from Antwerp to New York, as U.S. imports from Europe surge on the strength of the dollar.

U.K.-based Kerry Logistics has completed a new office in Portugal, allowing the third-party logistics provider to better serve southwest Europe and get better access to Africa and South American markets, particularly Brazil.

The U.K. government has netted 750 million pounds ($1.2 billion) from the sale of half of its remaining 30 percent stake in Royal Mail.

Nearly 100 shipping and trade associations urged the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission to prohibit late fees for containers and chassis that can’t be picked up or delivered on time because of port congestion.

Despite its well-publicized port congestion and labor problems this past year, Southern California continues to be a hotbed for industrial real estate development, industry experts told the I.CON Industrial Real Estate Conference sponsored by the Commercial Real Estate Development Association Wednesday in Long Beach.

Cargo carriers in the U.S. have raised concerns that action by Washington to curb open skies agreements with Middle Eastern carriers over allegations they are subsidised by their governments could become a threat to vital worldwide air freight networks.

U.S. railcar shippers Wednesday welcomed a new report advocating for an overhaul of the the country’s freight rail regulations — sweeping reforms that are well beyond the purview of even the country’s federal rail regulatory agency.

U.S. freight infrastructure advocates are urging Congress not to let the TIGER grant program be reduced from a roar to a meow.