Supply chain

A major new initiative has been launched to upgrade infrastructure and the logistics network along the Yangtze River, an undertaking that will impact almost half of the country’s population.

A manufacturer of custom office furniture is investing $17 million to establish a Virginia distribution center at the CenterPoint Intermodal Center in Suffolk, a boost for the Port of Virginia and CSX Transportation and another sign of growing momentum for inland ports served by rail.

HONG KONG — Robert Mylod, the former Priceline CFO who played a major role in automating the online consumer travel market, has joined online freight pricing and quoting network Freightos, which plans to mimic the automated system that was such a game changer in the travel business.

Fruit shippers in Central Washington hoping for refrigerated rail service to be reinstated at the Port of Quincy, Washington, have a long wait. After Cold Train suspended the reefer service, BNSF stopped any intermodal service to the port.

Global Logistic Properties (GLP) has announced its second giant investment this week, pouring $138 million into a Japanese joint venture development that will be matched by long term partner Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

With the nation’s ability to move imports and exports “in crisis mode,” U.S. Federal Maritime Commissioner Chairman Mario Cordero is urging PierPass to “seriously consider” calls for a moratorium on its fees as congestion at the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex builds.

In its first attempt to regulate transportation-related food safety, the Food and Drug Administration has confused quality with safety, a move that could force the automatic rejection of countless loads and push cargo claims and insurance rates up sharply, shippers, carriers and industry associations say.

Most shippers are happy with the European Union’s new electronic customs system, which aims to replace paper customs procedures to facilitate trade and enhance security at the EU’s external borders, this despite potentially higher costs and possibly more enquiries and audits, according to a new survey.

Australia-listed Goodman Group’s development activities experienced robust growth during the first quarter with the lack of supply of modern, high quality logistics space driving demand for new industrial properties.

Russia's ban on food imports from a number of Western countries has created new shipping opportunities; fruits and vegetables traditionally supplied by European producers are being replaced by suppliers from other countries.

New U.S. inland port projects are being launched after consultations with supply chain participants, including importers and exporters, trucking companies and logistics providers.

A stronger U.S. economy is filling trailers and containers faster than transportation companies can provide them, driving up transportation costs and intermodal and trucking rates, speakers said Thursday at the JOC Inland Distribution Conference in Kansas City, Missouri.

Port congestion in Southern California is driving cargo to third-party logistics providers that have access to capacity from ocean and overland carriers, and the information technology systems to link these services together in an end-to-end supply chain solution, according to a 3PL executive.

FedEx said it has plans in place to handle expected record volume of holiday shipments this year and avoid a repeat of 2013’s late-shipments debacle.

Chiquita International and Irish banana seller Fyffes are busy wooing shareholders, saying the synergies of a combined company would result in $60 million in annual savings, much of it from lower transportation and fuel bills.

Footwear importers last year paid $2.5 billion in duties, which are meant at least in part to protect domestic producers from low-cost imports, but in reality footwear accounts for a tiny percentage of U.S. jobs.

The U.S. faces potential sanctions after the World Trade Organization ruled this week that the country has not done enough to amend regulations that require detailed sourcing information on meat products, which was previously found to violate international fair trade rules.

The American Apparel & Footwear Association and the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Textiles and Apparel today signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at easing U.S.-China shipments of fashion products in both directions.

The Ocean Three Alliance of CMA CGM, China Shipping and United Arab Shipping Co. has received U.S. regulatory clearance without the standard 45-day review by the Federal Maritime Commission, but Commissioner Richard Lidinsky isn’t happy about it.

UPS will raise freight rates for air and ground packages, domestic and international shipments and less-than-truckload freight by 4.9 percent on average Dec. 29, the company said Monday.

Panalpina’s ocean freight traffic increased by 9 percent in the third quarter, more than twice the market growth, but profit shrunk due to pressure on margins and adverse currency movements.

The nature of footwear sourcing is such that it raises red flags at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, so importers should make commercial compliance an integral part of their business plan, an industry consultant said Monday.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection should improve its analysis and circulation of border security data, a new report from the Government Accountability Office says.

The No. 1 commercial issue for U.S. Customs and Border Protection is completing its automated commercial environment and linking ACE with the 46 other government agencies involved in clearing shipments at the border Commissioner Gil Kerlikowkse said Saturday.

U.S. and Mexican shippers and transportation providers in their countries’ trusted trader programs can expect to see faster cargo processing at the shared border, following an agreement between the two nations’ customs agencies that promises to ease shipments of cross-border goods.

US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx used a ceremony highlighting the expansion of Port Newark Container Terminal to put in a plug for an Obama administration proposal to spend $302 billion over the next four years on transport infrastructure.

CJ Korea Express is mulling the acquisition of NOL Group's APL Logistics, the Korean courier giant said in an exchange filing, removing any lingering doubts that the logistics division of the Singapore-based shipping company is up for sale.

The U.S. Surface Transportation Board is pressuring Canadian Pacific Railway to better explain how it will address service issues.

British Columbia’s Port Metro Vancouver is in the home stretch of implementing its new truck licensing system, which aims to balance the number of registered trucks with the amount of available work in an effort to stabilize port operations.

Home furnishing giant IKEA has expanded its business with logistics property developer Goodman Group into China, signing a lease for 11,000 square meters of warehousing space in the inland Chinese city of Chengdu.

Staying on top of the evolving regulatory and customs environment was a key areas forwarders and NVOCCs needed to focus on as they expand their business across Asia, delegates at a TPM Asia panel heard today.

Reefer containers will form a huge part of the cargo carried on the New Silk Way rail network between China and Europe, even though shippers will be forced to counter the extreme temperatures found on the route.

Growth expectations for the Asian middle class are staggering, but so is the scale of supply chain upgrades that will be needed to meet demand.

Tracking chassis as they move around and through ports and railheads is the next step in building a more sophisticated, interconnected supply chain, telematics company Orbcomm says.

U.S. and other foreign companies in China are often challenged by trade practices that are considered unscrupulous and/or illegal elsewhere, says Susan Kohn Ross, an international trade attorney with Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp in Los Angeles.

The war of words between Australia’s competition regulator and the container shipping industry continued today, with Shipping Australia CEO Rod Nairn branding Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims “naive,” “blind to the facts” and “on a crusade.”