Articles
Global Economy
India Bales on Cotton Exports
India’s annual cotton output could drop 12 percent to the lowest in nine years as limited rainfall in the top two producing states has slashed crop yields, potentially cutting exports from the world’s top producer, according to a report in the Economic Times. Fewer cotton shipments from India will allow rivals such as the United […]
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Weather Forecast: Supply Chain Disruptions Ahead
Global supply chain disruptions continue to grow at an alarming rate and the potential for financial or revenue impacts is the highest it has been in three years, finds Resilinc’s recent EventWatch Supply Chain Disruption report. In the first half of 2018, Resilinc notified a record 1,069 events within six months, the highest since the […]
Read MoreEconomic Nationalism Challenges Global Supply Chains
Sixty-six percent of manufacturers responding to a new survey of global senior supply chain decision makers by software company LLamasoft say they would change their supply chains in order to tackle economic nationalism. In addition, 50 percent of respondents say economic nationalist policies will increase operational costs, and 45 percent are considering alternative suppliers, representing […]
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Trade Wars, Cyber Threats Top Maritime Concerns
The global maritime industry is cautiously optimistic about the global business environment for world trade, but also concerned about the potential impact of trade tensions, cyber security, fuel costs, and other headwinds to industry recovery. Those are the findings of a new benchmark survey developed by the Business Performance Innovation Network, in partnership with Navis. […]
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New NAFTA Winners and Losers
Although the recently announced trade deal between the United States, Mexico, and Canada is not likely to take effect until 2020, assuming each country grants final approval, many have been quick to seize upon the agreement in search of "winners and losers." The new deal, known as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) is poised to […]
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Strong Im/Ex Market Fuels South Korea Trade Growth
Air trade in South Korea will remain steady due to strong exports of high technology, basic materials, and machinery parts, as well as imports of industrial raw materials and machinery parts, predicts the DHL Global Trade Barometer, an early indicator of global trade developments calculated using artificial intelligence and big data. The Barometer also expects […]
Read MoreGetting the Most Out of Foreign Trade Zones
When I first started working in logistics, I heard a horror story about what can go wrong when a single detail is missed in a given transaction. A classic-car collector found his dream car in Europe after many years of searching and bought it for several million dollars. When shipping the car to the United […]
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SCPA: One for the Record Books
South Carolina Ports Authority (SCPA) set a new container volume record, handling 2.2 million TEUs during 2017, and posted nine-percent container volume growth. The port’s total container volume in 2017 surpassed the previous record of 2 million TEUs achieved in 2016. In addition, the port moved 182,884 TEUs in December 2017, an increase of 11.2 […]
Read MoreGet Your Supply Chain Up to E-Commerce Speed
It’s hard to go more than a day without reading about a new startup or outside party looking to “digitize” the supply chain or logistics process. While some logistics companies such as freight forwarders are automated and use software packages based on EDI or newer cloud-based technologies, if the output of your technology is nothing […]
Read MoreChina Ups Delivery Service to the U.S.
Two leading express companies are joining forces to leverage their complementary networks, service portfolios, technologies, and logistics expertise. China’s Ministry of Commerce approved a planned joint venture between UPS and SF Holding, the parent company of SF Express. The agreement allows UPS and SF to collaborate on developing and providing international delivery services from, initially, […]
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