Today's Top Supply Chain and Logistics News From WSJ
March 14 2017 - 7:06AM
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By Paul Page
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British grocery supplier G Fresh Ltd. has been resetting its
supply chain well ahead of the U.K.'s departure from the European
Union, packing trucks from Spain more tightly and bypassing
distribution centers to cut rising import costs. The company is
among many across the country that are already taking strategic
moves to prepare for a post-Brexit future, the WSJ's Jason Douglas
and Robert Wall report. Actual separation could take years, even
after the U.K. moved closer today with a vote from Parliament
giving British Prime Minister Theresa May the go-ahead for
negotiations. But the more immediate concern has been a sharply
lower pound that has roiled trade, pushing greater demand for U.K.
exports but driving up the cost of imported goods, supplies and
ingredients for many companies. Some, like G Fresh, are tweaking
distribution operations, but industrial parts maker Corrotherm
International Ltd., accelerated plans to open a factory in France
to avoid any new tariff or custom costs.
Ocean transport operations are moving from the water to land.
Shipping technology provider INTTRA is buying Belgium-based
container tracking specialist Avantida, WSJ Logistics Report
writes, adding an intermodal piece to the company's booking
platform and likely setting the stage for more moves in the
seaborne supply chain. INTTRA Chief Executive John Fay says the buy
is the first step in a strategy "to extend our network beyond the
ocean participants." Those ocean players include Maersk Line, the
world's biggest container line and, along with several other
carriers, a part owner of INTTRA. Maersk wants to expand its role
in shipper supply chains, and recently struck a deal to test
blockchain technology for tracking shipments. INTTRA's new business
tracks empty containers, not shipments, but finding and getting
those far-flung empties can be crucial to getting exports on ships,
which is really what the shipping lines and their booking platform
want.
Intel Corp. is placing the biggest bet yet that the future of
automotive supply chains will be based on computer chips. The
semiconductor giant struck a deal to buy Mobileye NV for about
$15.3 billion, the WSJ's Austen Hufford reports, the latest big
investment by a technology company in the future of self-driving
cars. Jerusalem-based Mobileye makes chip-based camera systems that
power semi-automated driving features already being used in cars,
and wants to make that technology central to self-driving cars of
the future. The acquisition will accelerate the race by auto
makers, part suppliers and increasingly aggressive tech companies
in the autonomous-vehicle sector. And the sheer scale of Intel's
Mobileye acquisition reflects the widespread view that the
auto-supply sector is where future value is expected to be
generated.
SUPPLY CHAIN STRATEGIES
The Lincoln and Cadillac will start competing head-to-head far
from their home markets. Lincoln Motor Co. will start building cars
in China by late 2019, the WSJ's Trefor Moss reports, bidding to
catch up with General Motors Co.'s Cadillac and gain a larger share
of rising luxury-car demand in the world's biggest auto market. The
Ford Motor Co. unit says it will start making Lincolns in Chongqing
-- where Ford already operates in partnership with local
state-owned auto maker Changan Automobile Group Co. The move
extends the globalization of automotive supply chains even amid
growing protectionist rhetoric in the U.S. and elsewhere. There are
big incentives for the companies to move their manufacturing to
China since cars imported into the country incur a 25% tariff,
making local manufacturing a necessary step for any auto maker
wanting to sell in volume in a highly price-sensitive market
segment.
QUOTABLE
IN OTHER NEWS
The Port of New York and New Jersey closed and thousands of
flights were canceled today as the East Coast braced for a storm
set to dump heavy snows from Virginia to New England. (WSJ)
Home decor and apparel chain Gordmans Stores Inc. is seeking
chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after reaching a deal to liquidate
inventory and other assets. (WSJ)
Truck drivers say the port of Los Angeles and Long Beach
clean-trucks plan has provided them with shoddy vehicles, dimming
confidence in the program. (KPCC)
Urgent efforts to bar shipments of flammable rechargeable
batteries from aircraft have faded under the Trump administration's
deregulation drive. (Associated Press)
Panjiva says U.S. waterborne imports fell 8% in February.
(Logistics Management)
Authorities in Bangladesh ordered dozens of tanneries to shut
down over environmental concerns. (Sourcing Journal)
Amazon.com Inc. has become one of Costa Rica's biggest employers
with its investment in software development and other work.
(Seattle Times)
DHL opened a distribution center in Hong Kong aimed at
cross-border e-commerce shipping. (Air Cargo News)
HSH Nordbank rejected a RIckmers Maritime Trust restructuring
plan but said it may forgive some debt if the container ship owner
can reach deals with other creditors. (Splash 24/7)
The parent of Hong Kong's Orient Overseas Container Line
reported a $219.2 million loss for 2016 on an 11% decline in
freight revenue. (Seatrade Maritime)
The Alaska Railroad Corp. is cutting more positions as it copes
with an unrelenting decline in shipping demand. (Progressive
Railroading)
Scientists seeking to preserve thousands of years of climate
data are shipping pieces of a glacier from Bolivia to Antarctica.
(Fast Company)
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
March 14, 2017 06:51 ET (10:51 GMT)
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