Supply chain

Companies throughout the global supply chain are still looking for signs of the type of revival that will help their businesses thrive.

Transnet SOC, South Africa’s state-owned ports and rail operator, and China Development Bank have signed an agreement to jointly explore and identify opportunities for the Chinese state-owned bank to have a role in Transnet’s infrastructure upgrade programs.

LONG BEACH, Calif. — Now that the U.S. has emerged from the economic recession, the freight transportation sector in 2013 will shift its focus to supply chain issues such as federal sequestration, truck capacity shortages and a shift in sourcing away from China, economists told the annual Pulse of the Ports conference in Long Beach Wednesday.

A Michigan exporter of used computer parts and its owner have been sentenced for trafficking in counterfeit goods and services and violating environmental laws.

The European Commission has launched a €66.7 million (about US$85.2 million) call for proposals to fight road congestion and make freight transport greener in the framework of the Marco Polo program...

UPS has expanded its Preferred Less-Than-Container Load expedited ocean freight service to include Western Europe.

PTA Holdings, through its subsidiary Nortford, has begun serving the produce industry by transporting perishable food products from southern U.S. markets into various locations in the Midwest.

Hong Kong’s exports and imports of goods both decreased year-over-year in February, Hong Kong’s Census and Statistics Department reported.

Washington appears to be finally waking up to the growing need to speed up the movement of goods across the U.S.-Mexico border.

FedEx Express has expanded its alternative-energy vehicle fleet with the introduction of 10 new all-electric commercial vehicles for use in Hong Kong.

Monterey Bay International Trade Association has signed a City/State Partners program contract with the Export-Import Bank of the United States to accelerate export business by...

Lumber production in the U.S. and Canada improved in 2012, with total output being 8 percent and 5 percent higher year-over-year, according to Western Wood Products Association, Wood Resource Quarterly reports.

Japan and the European Union formally agreed on Monday to kick off negotiations on a bilateral free trade agreement aimed at eliminating import tariffs on most products traded between them.

Two Italian ship guards accused of killing two Indian fishermen off the Kerala coast in February last year returned to New Delhi on Friday evening, easing a standoff that threatened to strain diplomatic ties between the two countries.

Whether recent legislation that funds the federal government for the next six months will prevent slated furloughs at Customs and Border Protection that could snarl freight traffic at U.S. ports of entry is unclear.

U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski, D-Ill., has introduced the Customs Training Enhancement Bill, which is intended to facilitate the sharing of information between the private sector and U.S. Customs and Border Protection to allow the U.S. government to better identify foreign companies that illegally avoid customs duties.

The Pacific Merchant Shipping Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union have sent a joint letter to U.S. Sens. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and other officials...

Terreno Realty Corporation, a U.S. industrial real estate company, has acquired an industrial property in Burien, Wash., for about $6.5 million.

Two shipping firms based in Germany and Cyprus have pleaded guilty to felony obstruction of justice charges and violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships...

Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights, and David Vitter, R-La., ranking member of the...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has begun requiring all exporters of U.S. pork to report weekly export sales to the agency’s Foreign Agricultural Service.

The European Parliament’s international trade committee has urged the European Union to reinstate Myanmar’s duty and quota free access to the EU market, in support of the European Commission’s proposal to back Myanmar in its reforms.

DB Schenker Logistics will launch a new service for French wine producers at the ProWein trade fair in Düsseldorf, Germany, from March 24-26.

The New Jersey Legislature approved and sent to Gov. Chris Christie a bipartisan bill creating specific penalties for cargo theft.

UPS has appointed Cindy Miller as president of its European business and Derek Woodward as president of the emerging markets division, effective April 30.

CenterPoint Properties has started construction on a new Ace Hardware build-to-suit for lease, located in Wilmer, Texas.

Performance Team has hired Jim Townsend as its chief information officer.

Ball Metal Beverage Container has signed an industrial lease for a 163,000-square-foot space in the Monroe Logistics Center in Ohio with landlord Industrial Developments International.

The European Commission today decided to refer Portugal to the Court of Justice of the European Union for its incorrect application of the rules on airport groundhandling.

Schenker AG’s supervisory board has appointed Heiner Murmann to its management board, effective May 1. He will be responsible for the Deutsche Bahn subsidiary’s air and ocean freight.

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee unanimously passed the bill Wednesday, suggesting WRDA could receive a vote on the chamber floor as early as next month.

Trade negotiators from China, Japan and South Korea will hold their first round of negotiations on a free trade agreement among the three major Asian economies later this month.

Toll Global Forwarding has named Paul Chinery as director of air freight for its U.K. operations.

CEVA Logistics has launched a new China to Europe railway service.