Supply chain

Australia’s international merchandise imports in July were A$22.0 billion (about US$20.0 billion), jumping 20 percent from $18.3 billion in June, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

John T. “Jock” Menzies III, a Baltimore warehousing executive who turned his logistics talents to global disaster relief, helping hundreds of thousands of people survive in the wake of earthquakes and hurricanes, died Aug. 17.

PTA Holdings is expanding its refrigerated truckload business, adding a baked goods shipper in San Antonio, Texas, to balance northbound and southbound loads.

The U.S. International Trade Commission has determined that the U.S. oil country tubular goods industry is “materially injured” by imports of OCTG products from nine nations that are sold at “less than fair value.”

The Maritime Labour Convention, an International Labour Organization agreement established in 2006 to embody all existing global maritime labor conventions and recommendations...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service has expanded the amount of chicken products being recalled by the Chilean Ministry of Health.

Tampa Port Authority has signed a letter of intent with Green Express for the development of an on-dock transload and rail-served facility connecting the port to the Midwest.

The U.S. industrial real estate market performed “well” during the first half of 2013, highlighted by year-over-year increases in transaction volume and revenue in many markets...

Damco slumped to a second quarter loss of $8 million from a $28 million profit a year earlier, as lower ocean container traffic more than offset strong growth in its air freight and supply chain management operations.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide has appointed Ivo Aris as director of European global forwarding.

The California Air Resources Board has fined three international shipping companies a combined $440,250 for failure to switch from bunker fuel to low-sulfur marine distillate fuel...

Livingston International has appointed Steven C. Preston as its new CEO, effective immediately.

State and federal agencies are working to finalize a pilot program to bring grapes and blueberries from Peru and Uruguay into Florida’s Port Everglades and PortMiami, starting in October.

WASHINGTON — New hours of service rules for truck drivers are here to stay following a federal court ruling earlier this month, the president and CEO of the Transportation Intermediaries Association said Thursday.

The Diamond State Port Corp., operator of Delaware’s Port of Wilmington, and Dole Foods have reached an agreement in principle by which Dole will continue to use the Port of Wilmington...

Confusion reigns in China as the transport and logistics industry tries to come to terms with a new value-added tax of 6 percent introduced on Aug. 1.

Vietnam will lift its remaining ban on white offal on Sept. 1, 2013, although it will simultaneously impose several new conditions on imports of the animal product, according to the European Commission.

Expansion of China’s pulp manufacturing capacity in the last five years has resulted in a “dramatic increase” in the importation of wood chips to supply the new paper mills...

Kuehne + Nagel’s board of directors today appointed Detlef Trefzger as its CEO.

Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., next month will introduce legislation that would repeal the controversial harbor maintenance tax and replace it with a user fee to fund harbor dredging and maritime-related intermodal infrastructure projects.

Former U.S. Rep. Betty Sutton, D-Ohio, has become the 10th administrator of the Department of Transportation’s Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corp.

Identec Solutions has entered into a multi-year alliance with WAM Technologies to expand their refrigerated container monitoring solutions.

Contargo has agreed to buy APM Terminals’ intermodal terminal in Neuss, Germany, for an undisclosed sum.

Allcargo Logistics Ltd., India’s leading international freight forwarder and port-based logistics provider, reported its consolidated net income in the first fiscal quarter, which ended June 30, was Rs. 38.66 crore (about $6.3 million), slipping 32 percent year-over-year.

UPS has expanded its presence in China with the addition of two new contract logistics distribution facilities in Chengdu and Shanghai.

United Nations inspectors have arrived at Panama’s Manzanillo port to examine the North Korean ship carrying hidden military equipment that was intercepted by Panamanian authorities...

The global economy weakened slightly in the second quarter of 2013, mainly driven by declining optimism in Asia and Latin America, although North America showed signs of continuing recovery...

In the second quarter of 2013, the eurozone’s gross domestic product rose 0.3 percent compared with the previous quarter, which was better than expected...

The U.S. Surface Transportation Board today adopted a final rule that will require all rail carriers that submit R-1 reports to begin breaking out expenses for positive train control...

The Border Commerce and Security Council has voiced concerns about U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s plan to fund certain staffing costs through agreements with some border cities.

The federal government needs to better manage, promote and coordinate trade programs so that export resources can be better used to help small and medium-sized business be globally competitive, according to a Government Accountability Office report released today.

The Surface Transportation Board will hold a public hearing this fall related to a petition by The National Industrial Transportation League to modify the board's standards for mandatory competitive switching.

Delegations from North and South Korea will make a last-ditch effort to reopen Kaesong industrial complex later today.

Kewill has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the assets of Four Soft, a Hyderabad, India-based software company.

The U.S. and the U.S.-East African Community have agreed to launch formal negotiations on a trade facilitation agreement, according to Michael Froman, U.S. Trade Representative.

OnTrac has decided to expand its San Diego operation to support increased volume.

Kerry Logistics has acquired a majority stake in Cargo Master’s Group, a Mexico-based freight forwarding and logistics company with six domestic offices.

CaroTrans will launch a new direct, weekly less-than-containerload and full containerload export service from Houston to Rio de Janeiro.