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By Jennifer Smith 

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Container lines are shopping for mega-ships again despite a gloomy outlook for global shipping. Evergreen Marine Corp. of Taiwan and Germany's Hapag-Lloyd AG are asking Asian shipyards to build up to 15 supersize vessels worth about $2.2 billion combined, WSJ Logistics Report's Costas Paris writes, in separate requests that could widen the gulf between capacity and demand on critical Asia-to-Europe trade lanes. The proposals from two members of competing shipping alliances mark an end to a months-long lull in orders even as demand for trans-Pacific shipments of retail and manufacturing goods is waning amid trade tensions and the slowing global economy. Operators say many older ships must be scrapped to meet 2020 limits on sulfur-emissions, and Taiwan's Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp. and China's Cosco Shipping Holdings Co. are also looking for new vessels.

Apple Inc. is wrestling with sharply conflicting interests in its supply chain. The company is asking suppliers to study shifting final assembly of some products out of China, the WSJ's Yoko Kobuta and Tripp Mickle report, as it seeks to balance cost-saving efforts amid global trade tensions with its drive for a bigger share of China's vast and growing market for consumer electronics. Any move could take months to years to put into motion, and wouldn't affect the iPhone in the near term. But Apple's requests to suppliers underscore how companies are struggling to reconcile manufacturing choices focused on cost and logistics with their attempts to sell in particular markets. Apple faces big exposure in China in both areas. The country accounts for about a fifth of its total sales and some three million jobs there are tied to Apple's supply chain.

SUPPLY CHAIN STRATEGIES

Murky maritime shipping practices are snarling energy supply chains as the U.S. tightens sanctions on Tehran. Italian oil giant Eni SpA has rejected a cargo of suspected Iranian crude bound for a Silician refinery after its specifications didn't match those of its contract for Iraqi oil, highlighting the challenges energy companies face in determining the origin of shipments that pass through multiple hands on the high seas. The WSJ's Sarah McFarlane and Benoit Faucon report the cargo bought from Nigeria's Oando PLC appears to have taken a circuitous route that included two ship-to-ship transfers, one from a vessel that turned its radio location signal off. U.S. officials say such tactics are red flags for potential sanctions-evasion behavior. Oando says the cargo passed muster on loading but that it has now rejected the crude and sent it back to the supplier, which the company declined to name.

Apple is showing support for a key supplier as both businesses cope with slowing demand for smartphones. The electronics giant has signaled it would consider requests for financial breaks for struggling Japan Display Inc., the WSJ's Takashi Mochizuki and Kosaku Narioka report, another sign of the growing stresses in technology supply chains. Japan Display makes display panels for the iPhone XR and is running out of cash because of weaker-than-expected sales of the handset. Negotiations over a Japan Display rescue have repeatedly stumbled because of prospective investors' concern over the company's business outlook. The company gets half its revenue from Apple and got hefty financing help from the company to expand production, leaving it with payments due to its American customer. Apple has been involved in several run-ins with suppliers over the impact of strategy changes, but could provide key help for foundering Japan Display.

QUOTABLE

IN OTHER NEWS

U.S. initial jobless claims fell by 6,000 last week. (WSJ)

The Philadelphia Fed's manufacturing index slowed to its lowest reading since February. (WSJ)

Factory output is faltering in many economies, darkening the outlook for the global economy. (WSJ)

Canada's annual inflation rate climbed 2.4% in May. (WSJ)

Oil prices climbed sharply as pressures mounted in the Middle East. (WSJ)

Walmart Inc. will pay $282 million to settle claims over corrupt payments abroad. (WSJ)

Kroger Co.'s quarterly digital sales rose 42% while overall revenue fell 1%. (WSJ)

Brexit uncertainty contributed to a 20% drop in quarterly profit for cruise operator Carnival Corp. (WSJ)

Locusts from Iran are threatening Pakistan's cotton crop. (Bloomberg)

Maersk Line will test the use of cooking oil as an alternative biofuel in a project with shipping customer H&M. (Port Technology)

U.S. port operators want the Trump administration to remove cargo cranes from the latest round of tariffs on Chinese imports. (Hellenic Shipping News)

The first common digital standards for container shipping are expected to be proposed this year. (The Loadstar)

The average U.S. warehouse vacancy rate fell to 4.4% in the first quarter. (Journal of Commerce)

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approved a project to deepen the Brownsville, Texas, ship channel. (Brownsville Herald)

Qatar Airways ordered five Boeing Co. 777 freighters valued at $1.8 billion. (Air Cargo News)

New Balance Athletics Inc. is opening a $33 million factory in Massachusetts to test advanced manufacturing technology. (Boston Globe)

Italy's Prada is now selling on Chinese e-commerce platforms. (Glossy)

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey completed the last piece of an intermodal rail network aimed at inland hubs. (Progressive Railroading)

Some supermarkets in Vietnam and Thailand are using banana leaves as an alternative to plastic packaging. (Food Logistics)

ABOUT US

Paul Page is editor of WSJ Logistics Report. Follow him at , and follow the entire WSJ Logistics Report team: @PaulPage , @jensmithWSJ and @CostasParis. Follow the WSJ Logistics Report on Twitter at @WSJLogistics.

Write to Jennifer Smith at jennifer.smith@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 21, 2019 10:49 ET (14:49 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.