Today's Top Supply Chain and Logistics News From WSJ
23 April 2018 - 8:53PM
Dow Jones News
By Paul Page
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One of the shipping industry's biggest acquisitions is caught up
in U.S. national-security concerns. A U.S. review of Cosco Shipping
Holdings Co.'s proposed $6.3 billion purchase of rival Orient
Overseas International Ltd. is raising concerns about the Chinese
state-run conglomerate's control of a major container terminal at
California's Port of Long Beach. The WSJ's Costas Paris and Joanne
Chiu report that Cosco has told U.S. officials they are willing to
sell or carve out the Long Beach Container Terminal, but it's
unclear whether that would satisfy the U.S. The terminal is one of
the one of the few in the U.S. that is automated and can handle the
new generation of bigger ships, and for Cosco it's what one
official called a "prized asset" in the deal. The company's
acquisition fits in with Beijing's global "one belt, one road"
initiative and the review signals the expansion faces clear
limits.
Technology in the warehouse is starting to look a little more
like electronics at home. Companies operating some distribution
centers are turning to smartphones, user-friendly apps and even
emojis as they try to simplify work routines and training -- and
lure younger workers who have grown up using mobile devices. WSJ
Logistics Report's Erica E. Phillips writes that TechStyle Fashion
Group is running activities at a Southern California warehouse
through Apple Inc. devices and Apple's operating system. Software
provider EVS says this sort of strategy "takes the chunk out of"
warehouses, and can push aside the heavy handheld devices commonly
called bricks. The use of user-friendly consumer tech is growing
more common in various shipping operations. One benefit, says
TechStyle, is that it can find new equipment at local electronics
stores rather than going through industrial suppliers.
The U.S. and China may be taking steps to ease the trans-Pacific
tensions that threaten to fracture key pillars of world-wide trade.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says he may head to Beijing
for trade negotiations, and China says it welcomes the move
following weeks of harsh words and new tariffs that threaten to
escalate into a full trade war. The WSJ's Bob Davis and Lingling
Wei write the tensions are already hitting businesses. Last week,
the U.S. barred American businesses from supplying technology to
ZTE Corp., and the Chinese telecom equipment maker says the penalty
threatens its survival. China now is looking hard at Qualcomm
Inc.'s planned $44 billion purchase of NXP Semiconductors NV. On
the Pacific, bulk vessels carrying U.S. sorghum to China turned
around soon after Beijing added the major American export to its
list of targets for retaliatory tariffs.
E-COMMERCE
Amazon.com Inc.'s latest disclosure of salary information
portrays a business that's really three companies in one. Amazon
says the median annual salary of its workers is $28,446, putting
the company close to Hershey Co. and Home Depot Inc. in
compensation. The WSJ's Georgia Wells, Rachel Feintzeig and Theo
Francis write that's far below the median salaries at tech giants
like Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc.'s Google, showing how Amazon's
growing logistical apparatus separates it from its tech peers. One
researcher likened Amazon to a three-way hybrid of Google, United
Parcel Service Inc. and Walmart Inc. Amazon's software development
means the company's shares trade like a tech stock, even as it
bulks up its network of 175 operating and fulfillment centers. For
communities welcoming Amazon expansion, the salary figures may
prompt questions about exactly which Amazon business may be moving
in.
QUOTABLE
IN OTHER NEWS
U.S. tariffs on steel imports are likely to cost the American
economy jobs, Federal Reserve Bank of New York economists say.
(WSJ
Getting Beijing to lower its tariffs on auto imports may help
German car makers that ship automobiles from the U.S. to China.
(WSJ)
Eurozone consumers became more optimistic about economic
prospects in April. (WSJ)
The European Union and Mexico reached an agreement in principle
to upgrade their 18-year-old trade deal. (WSJ)
Canada's Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. is offering to buy Toys
"R" Us 's Canadian stores out of bankruptcy for $300 million.
(WSJ)
Aviation regulators imposed emergency inspection requirements
for the type of jet engine involved in the fatal Southwest Airlines
accident. (WSJ)
Canada's government ordered Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd.
unionized workers to vote on a contract offer, averting an
immediate threatened strike. (Financial Post)
At least five ships carrying U.S. sorghum to China changed
course after Beijing slapped hefty levies on imports of the grain.
(South China Morning Post)
New deals between shipping and technology companies are bringing
blockchain to maritime-based supply chains. (Bloomberg)
European authorities are investigating suspected tax fraud by
Chinese criminal gangs importing goods through Greece's Port of
Piraeus, operated by China's Cosco Shipping. (Reuters)
China expanded the list of waste products the country will bar
from imports. (American Shipper)
Algeria is angering European Union officials by cutting back
European imports while stepping up trade with China. (Arab
Weekly)
Retail group TJX Companies Inc. dropped plans for a Lordstown,
Ohio, distribution center that faced strong local opposition.
(Warren Tribune Chronicle)
Star Bulk Carriers is buying 16 bulk ships and paying for them
by issuing new shares to the sellers of the vessels. (Lloyd's
List)
Bulk-ship operator Oldendorff Carriers dropped its Guyana
business because Russian aluminum producer Rusal was hit with U.S.
sanctions. (Splash 247)
First-quarter profit at Kansas City Southern slipped slightly to
$147 million despite gains in revenue and volume. (Progressive
Railroading)
Chinese companies signed agreements to invest $1 billion in Abu
Dhabi's Khalifa Port Free Trade Zone. (Seatrade Maritime)
ABOUT US
Paul Page is deputy editor of WSJ Logistics Report. Follow him
at @PaulPage, and follow the WSJ Logistics Report team:
@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
April 23, 2018 06:38 ET (10:38 GMT)
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