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.

Subscribe to this email newsletter by clicking here: http://on.wsj.com/Logisticsnewsletter .

Write to Paul Page at paul.page@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 28, 2017 06:52 ET (11:52 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.