BA Boeing Co

By Paul Page 

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Global aircraft manufacturing supply chains are delayed at the gate. Plane makers Airbus SE and Boeing Co. are bulging with orders for new planes, the WSJ's Robert Wall and Doug Cameron report, but the companies can't get the parts they need to finish the jets and deliver them to customers. Facing an aggressive order schedule, suppliers of seats, toilets and engine parts are stretched to the limit and sometimes falling short. The building backup is the result of surging passenger demand that's pushed carriers to upgrade and expand fleets, particularly fast-growing Asian and Mideast airlines. It highlights the sprawling and global nature of aircraft manufacturing, where parts built in far-flung corners of the world are brought together for final assembly. And the supplier problems are taking a financial toll, with at least one frustrated carrier canceling orders while Boeing and Airbus try to figure out how to speed up production in the coming years while they can't even meet current demand.

There's more to cutting back trucking capacity than just taking rigs off the road. Several big companies battered by falling freight rates are steering more of their trucks into what's known as dedicated fleets, WSJ Logistics Report's Jennifer Smith writes. The business of managing fleets for individual retail and manufacturing clients has swelled over the past year as shifts in shipping demand and capacity have sent prices on the spot market on a roller-coaster. The dedicated business doesn't offer the potential for big windfalls for truckers, but carriers say it gives them consistency -- what Werner Enterprises Inc. Chief Executive Derek Leathers calls a "stable middle." It's also a risk-management tool as operators try to keep their assets moving and drawing revenue rather than parked and waiting for a business turnaround.

Hanjin Shipping Co. may be liquidating but the company's containers are still creating a logjam at ports and, more recently, in court. With the South Korean operator's biggest assets being auctioned off, WSJ Logistics Report's Erica E. Phillips writes a fight now is brewing in U.S. bankruptcy court over who can sell the boxes that have been left behind. Hanjin's U.S.-based creditors want to salvage what they can, but Maher Terminals LLC, which runs Port Authority of New York and New Jersey marine terminal, is raising a roadblock, saying in a court filing that Hanjin owes more than $3 million in penalties and storage fees on 256 containers clogging the docks. The fight is over pennies on the dollar, but shows that the battle to recover money lost in the Hanjin bankruptcy could keep going down to the last container.

TRANSPORTATION

A head-snapping rebound at some of the world's biggest commodities producers may be helping turn business around at beleaguered bulk carriers. Mining giant Glencore PLC registered a $1.4 billion profit for 2016, the WSJ's Scott Patterson reports, a big swing back from a $4.9 billion loss the year before at the world's No. 4 mining company that caps a strong series of reports in the commodities world. The recovery in industrial materials comes mostly from production cutbacks that are restraining supply, but there are new signs the improvements are seeping into the shipping world. Star Bulk Carriers Corp. reported this week that better pricing helped the company cut its fourth-quarter loss by 25%, and the publication MarineLink reported charter rates for the largest dry bulk vessels are surging as big exporters like iron ore producers in Brazil and Australia ramp up volumes.

QUOTABLE

IN OTHER NEWS

A measure of layoffs across the U.S. fell to the lowest level since 1973. (WSJ)

Nordstrom Inc. posted higher earnings and revenue in the latest quarter, helped by sales at its off-price retailers. (WSJ)

Same-store sales at Kohl's Corp. fell for the fourth straight quarter. (WSJ)

Hormel Foods Corp. cut its outlook amid swelling inventories that have sent turkey meat prices tumbling. (WSJ)

Online home-goods retailer Wayfair Inc. expects its sales growth to slow sharply in the first quarter. (WSJ)

Exxon Mobil Corp., hit by low energy prices, slashed the proved oil and gas reserves it claims by 15%. (WSJ)

The World Trade Organization's Trade Facilitation Agreement aimed at streamlining customs procedures went into force. (BBC)

The Port of Oakland's clean-air plan has forced some smaller truckers from business while leaving others in stronger financial shape. (San Jose Mercury News)

XPO Logistics Inc. CEO Bradley Jacobs says the company isn't looking for acquisitions this year. (DC Velocity)

FedEx Corp. and the U.S. Postal Service extended through September 2024 their contract for FedEx Express to carry USPS packages. (Memphis Commercial Appeal)

The Maryland Port Administration got the go-ahead to acquire land needed for a large expansion of the Port of Baltimore's Seagirt Marine Terminal. (Baltimore Sun)

The American Trucking Associations' truck tonnage index climbed 2.9% from December to January. (Commercial Carrier Journal)

Daimler AG plans to begin making Mercedes-Benz automobiles in Russia starting in 2019. (Automotive Logistics)

Online retailer Sports Warehouse will open a distribution center outside Atlanta to serve as its Eastern U.S. hub. (Business Journals)

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 24, 2017 06:54 ET (11:54 GMT)

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