Supply chain

Allcargo Logistics, India’s leading international freight forwarder and port-based logistics provider, said its consolidated net profit in fiscal year 2012-13 was Rs. 169.7 crore (approximately $30 million), slipping 40 percent from $50.3 million in the previous fiscal year.

The United States has begun an investigation under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 into Ukraine’s intellectual property rights regime.

Lineage Logistics, the world’s second-largest cold storage company, has added another space to its portfolio, acquiring the real estate and assets of a facility in University Park, Ill. Financial terms of the transaction weren not disclosed.

In a decision that could prove beneficial to U.S. exporters of beef and beef products, delegates at this year’s general session of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) recognized the United States as having a negligible risk for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, or “mad cow disease”).

U.S. and Canadian officials released the first-ever joint United States-Canada Border Infrastructure Investment Plan.

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood yesterday announced the members of the National Freight Advisory Committee, a panel that will provide recommendations regarding the country’s freight transportation system.

Guinea-Bissau deposited with the secretary general of the World Customs Organization its instrument of accession to the International Convention on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System.

ART Logistics has launched a multimodal freight service connecting Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand with Central Asia.

Imports of Australian beef will be exempt from Indonesia’s quotas, following negotiations with the Australian government, in order to stabilize the supply and cost of beef in Indonesia’s domestic markets ahead of Ramadan next month and the Eid al-Fitr festival in August.

Ray LaHood, U.S. transportation secretary, has selected seven members to the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy’s advisory board.

Unapproved genetically engineered wheat has been discovered growing on a farm in Oregon, which could disrupt American exports of the grain, The New York Times reports.

Canada’s House of Commons is set to vote this afternoon on a bill requiring service contracts between railroads and their customers.

Canada has banned all imports to and exports from Iran, effective immediately, according to John Baird, Canada’s foreign affairs minister.

CUSTOMS Info Global Data Mining has promoted Jennifer Harris to chief operating officer, following the merger and reorganization of CUSTOMS Info and Global Data Mining.

North Europe’s import volume in 2013 is projected to decrease by 8.9 percent to 12.2 million 20-foot-equivalent units...

Brazil soybean shipments, which are typically made through May, will be extended until at least July as a record crop from the South American nation has created a backlog at ports and on roads, Bloomberg reports.

Unisource Corporate, a holding enterprise that acquires third-party logistics service providers and logistics technology providers, has appointed Jordan Serlin as its new chairman and CEO.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has ordered GD Cars, Aurora, Colo.-based trucking company, to immediately cease all operations...

Dole has suspended a previously announced $200 million share buyback program in order to mitigate losses from its strawberry business and revamp its fleet of container ships, Fox Business reports.

CEVA Logistics has launched two services in its U.S.-Mexico portfolio, including Mexico Direct, a customs clearance solution for Mexican importers, and a new intermodal service.

Federal regulators are preparing an in-depth survey on whether electronic onboard devices used to record truck driver hours of service could be used by motor carriers to harass tired drivers, asking how to prevent potential abuse of the technology.

Susman Godfrey, an American antitrust litigation firm, has filed a class action against some of the world’s largest maritime vehicle shipping companies, alleging price fixing of carrier services...

Norbert Dentressangle has acquired Fiege’s logistics operations in Italy, Spain and Portugal to strengthen its position in Southern Europe, in line with its development strategy.

Maersk Line is rolling out a new system designed to speed up and simplify containerized food product shipments.

Ray LaHood, secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation, has assigned $10.9 million, via a Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grant, to the City of West Memphis, Ark., to expand the city’s ports.

Nippon Express Co., Japan’s largest international freight forwarder, signed an agreement to acquire Panasonic Logistics Co., the wholly owned logistics arm of electronics giant Panasonic Corp.

After years of consumer retrenchment, especially on big-ticket purchases, the improving U.S. housing market is fueling demand for household appliances such as dishwashers, refrigerators, air conditioners, ovens, stoves and washing machines.

DHL Supply Chain has plans to invest €140 million (about US$180 million) in its business in Southeast Asia by 2015.

Transplace, a third-party logistics provider with strong roots in U.S. trucking and cross-border transportation, has been acquired by Greenbriar Equity Group, a New York-based investment firm. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

UPS has appointed George Willis as the new managing director for UPS U.K., Ireland and the Nordics.

The Container Throughput Index of the Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung and the Institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics sank in April to 114.7, compared with 116.7 in March after seasonal adjustment.

Every month’s dose of inventory data produces a flood of analysis and opinions about what it means. Are stockpiles too high or too low? Do companies need to reorder? Are they optimistic or pessimistic about demand?

The European Association of Operators of Toll Road Infrastructures and the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association have signed a global joint tolling declaration to support a wider application of tolling policies...

If more shippers are starting to think about co-loading freight and sharing capacity to fight rising transportation costs, some credit should go to Kimberly-Clark. For more than two years, the $21.1 billion consumer packaged goods company has successfully shared truck capacity with another CPG shipper, Colgate, to improve distribution to a limited number of CVS Caremark retail stores.

ORTEC has promoted Corne Aantjes, CEO of its North American operations, to serve as global CTO, and to the global executive board.

Americold has appointed Jeff Hogarth as senior vice president of Asia-Pacific.

Tucker Company Worldwide has opened its first Texas sales office in Houston.

The global market for road transportation refrigeration equipment is expected to be worth $8.8 billion by 2018, driven by technology innovations in energy efficiency refrigeration and the increasing consumption of frozen and chilled foods.

A Manhattan federal court has granted a preliminary injunction barring a shipping company from transporting cigarettes that do not bear New York State and New York City tax stamps.

European dock and transport union leaders voiced concerns that a plan to reform European ports will threaten jobs and working conditions in pilotage, towage and mooring.