Today's Top Supply Chain and Logistics News From WSJ
February 28 2017 - 07:07AM
Dow Jones News
By Paul Page
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Labor peace that seemed to be taking hold at East Coast ports
recently is looking more tenuous. Members of the International
Longshoremen's Association are backing away from an imminent threat
to shut down critical cargo terminals for a day, WSJ Logistics
Report's Jennifer Smith writes, but the tensions that prompted the
scare are still hanging over the seaports. Harold Daggett, the
ILA's president, essentially short-circuited the walkout, asking
members to stay on the job while he seeks "immediate emergency
meetings" with members of Congress over issues such as the role of
the anti-corruption Waterfront Commission in hiring. The ILA South
Carolina local that had issued the call for a job action says it is
watching Mr. Daggett's efforts but remains concerned about issues
such as potential job losses from automation. That's a key issue
the ILA is supposed to address in new contract talks with port
employers, and the scuffle at the union suggests a new pact won't
come easily.
E-commerce is changing the shape of some of the country's
industrial real-estate markets. The shift is evident in New Jersey,
the WSJ's Keiko Morris reports, where online shopping is fueling
higher prices and sparking development away from the usual hot
spots along the state's main roadways. With its central location in
the densely-populated northeast U.S., New Jersey has always been a
magnet for industrial distribution, but experts say the most recent
growth is coming outside the traditional industrial corridor along
the New Jersey Turnpike as internet retailers and logistics
operators look for space closer to population centers. It's a sign
of how new supply chains focused on e-commerce are transforming the
landscape for distribution as retailers increasingly compete on the
ability to get goods to online consumers fast. There's a big and
growing cost, however: The asking lease rate for industrial space
in New Jersey last quarter jumped 14%.
Wal-Mart Inc.'s famously efficient supply chain is facing an
unusual challenge in the U.K. The retailer is being outflanked by
lower pricing in the cutthroat competition among the country's
discount grocers, the WSJ's Saabira Chaudhuri and Sarah Nassauer
report. The concern is growing at Asda, the Wal-Mart-owned grocery
chain that now is losing market share to discounters such as Aldi
and Lidl. That's a marked turnabout from the U.S., where Wal-Mart
uses tough terms with suppliers and its big shipping scale to drive
down prices, a strategy the company says it will try to ramp up in
the U.K. That will mean using its heft to drive down payments to
suppliers for everything from olive oil to refrigeration units and
getting better control of inventory. The company also faces another
more familiar challenge: British competitors of all stripes have
been investing heavily in online sales, an area where Wal-Mart will
have to play catch-up.
ECONOMY & TRADE
The more politicians beat up on trade the more popular it seems
to become. A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll found 43% of
Americans surveyed last week said they thought free trade between
the United States and foreign countries helped the U.S., compared
with 34% who said it hurt the country. That's a sharp reversal from
the last time pollsters asked the question in March 2016, the WSJ's
Jacob M. Schlesinger reports, and comes as the Trump administration
comes closer to rolling out its plans to redraw U.S. trade
relations. Increasingly positive views of the net benefits of trade
came mainly from Democrats, but there was a strong partisan gap in
the support for trade, suggesting the White House be able to count
on support from Republican lawmakers if it seeks to rewrite the
North American Free Trade Agreement and other deals.
QUOTABLE
IN OTHER NEWS
Durable goods orders in the U.S. jumped 1.8% in January but
business investment excluding aircraft and defense goods fell 0.4%.
(WSJ)
The Senate confirmed Wilbur Ross as Commerce secretary, putting
in place a key figure to implement new U.S. trade policy. (WSJ)
U.S. pending home sales fell 2.8% in January from a month
earlier. (WSJ)
Mexico's exports expanded 11.4% in January, mostly on a big
surge in petroleum shipments, while imports grew 10%. (WSJ)
A measure of confidence among eurozone service providers rose in
February to its highest level since before the global financial
crisis. (WSJ)
U.K.-regulated ship insurers are considering new European Union
outposts, fearing Brexit will hinder access to the EU's financial
market. (Reuters)
E-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., under fire for
carrying fake goods on its marketplaces, says there should be
heftier penalties against product counterfeiting. (South China
Morning Post)
Indian e-commerce startup Delhivery expects to raise $100
million in a funding round ahead of an initial public offering.
(Times of India)
Mexico's top trade negotiator says his country will walk away if
the U.S. insists on slapping duties or quotas on any products from
south of the border. (Bloomberg)
Industrial parts supplier W.W. Grainger Inc. will spend $273
million to build a distribution center in Louisville, Ky., to open
in 2020. (Business Journals)
The head of South Korea's SM Lines says the container shipping
operation will rely heavily on the spot market for trans-Pacific
volume. (Journal of Commerce)
The Georgia and Virginia port authorities signed an agreement to
cooperate in various operating and service areas. (Savannah Morning
News)
Philippine-owned ICTSI will withdraw from management of a
container terminal at the Port of Portland under a deal with the
Oregon port. (Portland Oregonian)
Clarkson Research says bulk carriers have slowed scrapping of
older vessels as the dry bulk shipping market has improved. (Splash
24/7)
Yusen Logistics opened a logistics center near Celaya, Mexico,
to meet what it says is growing demand from automotive customers.
(Supply ChaIn 247)
ABOUT US
Paul Page is deputy editor of WSJ Logistics Report. Follow him
at @PaulPage, and follow the entire WSJ Logistics Report team:
@brianjbaskin, @jensmithWSJ and @EEPhillips_WSJ and follow the WSJ
Logistics Report on Twitter at @WSJLogistics.
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Write to Paul Page at paul.page@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 28, 2017 06:52 ET (11:52 GMT)
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