Today's Top Supply Chain and Logistics News From WSJ
November 22 2017 - 7:12AM
Dow Jones News
By Paul Page
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Darker clouds are gathering over North American trade talks.
President Donald Trump's chief trade negotiator issued a downbeat
assessment after the latest negotiations over a new North American
Free Trade Agreement, the WSJ's Dudley Althaus and Jacob M.
Schlesinger write, while Canada and Mexico added their own grim
outlooks for the effort to rewrite the 23-year-old trade deal. The
negative statements after the fifth round of negotiations concluded
this week in Mexico City cast fresh doubts over the ability of the
countries to reach any sort of accord by the March deadline that
they've set. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer decried
the lack of headway and criticized Canada and Mexico for refusing
to "seriously engage" on controversial U.S. proposals that seek to
"rebalance" North American trade. Canada and Mexico officials say
wide gaps remain but blame the U.S. for digging in on proposals
they said would weaken the pact. One Mexican official said the
country won't offer "a counterproposal on something that is
unacceptable."
Amazon.com Inc. isn't playing around with the toy market this
holiday season. A surge in holiday shopping online has made Amazon
something of kingmaker in the retail arena, and the WSJ's Laura
Stevens writes the e-commerce company is bulking up its role in
seller supply chains with a program called Launchpad that helps
companies forecast demand and plan for the critical shopping
period. Wonder Workshop, which makes the $200 Cue robot toy,
expects to boost sales this season as it uses the program to manage
fluctuations in demand and pricing. The toy maker's plans highlight
a shift in market strategies: Although Wonder Workshop is selling
Cue in the brick-and-mortar chains that have been the cornerstone
of holiday retail sales, online channels increasingly make or break
new products. Companies are using Amazon's online reviews and
marketing on the site as an alternative to persuading traditional
retailers to add a new item to store shelves, and Amazon is even
buying inventory from the startups to sell directly on its
site.
Changing consumer tastes in food are raising tensions in
traditional retail supply chains. A dispute with a major customer
along with higher shipping costs following the recent hurricanes
cut into results at Campbell Soup Co. in the most recent quarter,
the WSJ's Austen Hufford reports, adding to pressure on the company
as it copes with a yearslong slide in sales. Campbell is in a
growing line-up of packaged processed food companies being
whipsawed by shifts in demand and distribution in the retail food
business. Campbell and Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which accounts for 20%
of Campbell's sales, have been locked in a disagreement over
promotional pricing and shelf space for canned goods. The dispute
is part of the broader strain in relations between suppliers and
retailers as store owners look to court consumers who are more
interest in healthier foods. Campbell is investing that area but
the company will need help from retailers in getting the goods in
front of buying customers.
SUPPLY CHAIN STRATEGIES
Apple Inc.'s biggest contract manufacturer is coming under new
criticism for violating labor laws in its efforts to ramp up
production of the new iPhone X. Taiwan-based Apple supplier Hon Hai
Precision Industry, better known as Foxconn, has been using
students who have illegally worked overtime to assemble the phone,
the Financial Times reports, as the company struggles to catch up
with demand after production delays. The news puts another harsh
spotlight on Apple supply chain that has been beset by production
delays for new products, a turnabout for a consumer electronics
giant that's long been a model for its management of a far-flung
and fast-moving manufacturing and distribution network. In this
case, high school students say some 3,000 students were sent to a
factory in Zhengzhou, China, where they routinely worked 11-hour
days assembling the iPhone X, which is against Chinese law. Apple
and Foxconn both say the students were working voluntarily and that
they are halting the overtime work.
QUOTABLE
IN OTHER NEWS
U.S. sales of previously-owned homes slipped 0.9% in October
from a year ago. (WSJ)
The Dow Jones Transportation Average is on track for its first
quarterly decline in more than a year despite a gain in the broader
stock market. (WSJ)
Federal trade regulators are recommending the White House impose
big tariffs on imported washing machines to protect U.S.
manufacturers. (WSJ)
Mexico is raising its minimum wage above the rate of inflation.
(WSJ)
Auto parts supplier Takata Corp. set the details of the $1.6
billion sale of the bulk of its business to Key Safety Systems Inc.
(WSJ)
Chemical giant Axalta Coating Systems is in talks about a
possible takeover by Japan's Nippon Paint Holdings Co. (WSJ)
Mitsubishi Corp. is creating an infrastructure fund to manage up
to $890 million in assets in Japan. (Nikkei Asian Review)
India's imports of North American coal are soaring as the
country faces a domestic fuel shortage. (Reuters)
Chinese cargo airline SF Express bought two 747-400 freighters
for $49 million on Alibaba's Taobao online commerce site. (South
China Morning Post)
About 30% of Americans said in a survey that they have had
parcels stolen from their front doors. (USA Today)
Some Instacart workers planned a "no-delivery day" to protest
the grocery delivery company's wages. (Fast Company)
Switzerland's exports of watches rose in October at the fastest
monthly pace since 2013. (Bloomberg)
Swiss watchmaker Omega has started selling its watches online.
(TechCrunch)
Middle East express delivery company Aramex named Bashar Obeid
chief executive, replacing Hussein Hachem. (The National)
Hapag-Lloyd AG is buying 3,700 refrigerated containers from
Maersk Container Industry. (Port Technology)
The Baltic Dry Index measure of the dry bulk shipping market
will undergo a makeover early next year. (Lloyd's List)
China Cosco Shipping's tanker division ordered seven large crude
carriers. (Splash 24/7)
Freight train service was launched between China's Jiangxi
Province and Hanoi in Vietnam. (Xinhua)
Hormel Foods Corp. named Glenn Leitch executive vice-president
of supply chain. (Food Business News)
Breakthru Beverage Group is merging with Texas-based Republic
National Distribution Co. to form the second largest alcohol
distributor in the U.S. (Chicago Tribune)
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. Follow the WSJ
Logistics Report on Twitter at @WSJLogistics.
Write to Paul Page at paul.page@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 22, 2017 06:57 ET (11:57 GMT)
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