AMZN Amazon.com Inc

By Paul Page 

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The U.S. industrial freight market may be slowly turning a corner. Orders for heavy-duty trucks expanded at a sharp clip in November, WSJ Logistics Report's Jennifer Smith reports, the first positive sign from fleet owners in nearly two years. ACT Research and FTR caution that the underlying numbers remain weak by historical standards, and the double-digit growth rates are based on comparisons to months that saw trucking companies retreat almost entirely from buying new trucks. Still, manufacturers that have been laying off workers and idling factory shifts will have orders to bolster their backlogs heading into 2017. Analysts project roughly 200,000 trucks will roll off assembly lines next year, which will keep truck makers on the road to recovery even if they aren't yet going at full speed.

Amazon.com Inc. really wants to be part of your run to the grocery store . The e-commerce giant is preparing its first small-format grocery store, Amazon Go, as part of a technology-driven bid for the one area of shopping that remains stubbornly an in-store experience. The company is considering at least three formats for brick-and-mortar food stores, the WSJ's Laura Stevens and Khadeeja Safdar report, and is eyeing a footprint of more than 2,000 grocery stores operating under its brand. For Amazon, food is a critical frontier even though grocery shopping remains largely resistant to rapid online sales growth and outside the usual range of package-friendly goods the company carries. Amazon believes more food sales can broaden the company's role in the retail market, and help it compete. Having stores would allow Amazon to add the click-and-collect services that its Amazon Fresh delivery service can't offer, while making the logistics of serving customers simpler.

Iran's state-owned shipping company is on the cusp of a major fleet upgrade, but need dollars to get the deal done. The Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines is in talks with South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. for container ships and tankers, the WSJ's Costas Paris and In-Soo Nam report, part of a broad upgrade of infrastructure underway in Iran as 10-year-old economic sanctions are rolled back. But IRISL and the state oil company, which may spend up to $2.5 billion in total on the modernization, are struggling to raise financing in U.S. dollars. They have tried to secure financing from Chinese banks by offering Beijing oil in return for loan guarantees. IRISL wants four mega-container vessels capable of moving 14,000 containers each and six tankers. The ships would be a boon for shipyards that have been hurt by the downturn in the ocean-going economy, and help set IRISL's future path. The shipping line needs the vessels to be able to join one of the big shipping alliances that move the vast majority of global containerized cargo.

E-COMMERCE

Some of the biggest food suppliers in the U.S. are responding to a threat from e-commerce trends by muscling their way into the market for home delivery of meal kits. The food heavyweights including Tyson Foods Inc., Campbell Soup Co. and Hershey Co. aim to build their own distribution channels straight to consumers, the WSJ's Kelsey Gee reports, and stem the loss of business as consumers shift away from packaged foods. The companies are working with online couriers to challenge companies like Blue Apron and HelloFresh that have carved out a $1.5 billion market delivering parcels of fresh ingredients and snappy recipes to homes. Experts warn that the market for "Uber for food" is crowded, however, and littered with failures. The mass-market companies have deep pockets, but they'll have to figure out how to manage their new, highly tailored deliveries for consumers alongside traditional supply chains built for scale.

European companies with supply chains that start in China are bracing for higher prices. An approaching World Trade Organization deadline could raise the costs on parts and materials imported from China, the WSJ's Nina Trentmann reports, by shifting China to so-called market-economy status. The shift would trigger a change in how the WTO calculates duties in anti-dumping cases, and it has finance chiefs at industrial companies across Europe scrambling to figure out whether they will see higher duties on their inbound goods. The European Commission is anxious to discourage Chinese companies from dumping products in the EU and punish those that benefit from Chinese government subsidies by imposing steeper duties on the goods they import. Some experts say companies are exerting heavy pressure on the WTO to keep things the way they are, and that big auto makers are particularly concerned because of the big volumes of parts they bring in from Chinese suppliers.

QUOTABLE

IN OTHER NEWS

Oil prices reached their highest level in a year, extending a sharp rally since OPEC agreed to cut production. (WSJ)

How a Zara coat went from design to Fifth Avenue in 25 days. (WSJ)

U.S. service industries boosted production to the highest level in 13 months in November and an employment index suggests rapid hiring is underway. (WSJ)

Paper packaging supplier Werthan Packaging Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection with a plan to sell itself to rival Gateway Packaging Co. LLC. (WSJ)

Ford Motor Co. is seeking to raise about $2 billion in long-term financing, tapping debt markets to fund work on new automotive technologies. (WSJ)

Mechanics at United Continental Holdings Inc. approved a six-year labor agreement. (WSJ)

European budget carrier Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA will set up two U.S. bases after Washington approved the airline's contentious application to expand service. (WSJ)

General Mills Inc. will eliminate up to 600 jobs in a restructuring as the struggling food giant works to adapt to changing food trends. (WSJ)

Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing launched a bid for Australia's Duet Group, a pipeline and power infrastructure group. (WSJ)

Audi AG opened its first "smart factory" powered by robotics in Mexico. (Robotics and Automation)

Global air cargo tonnage soared 6.2% in October, a strong sign that a rebound in the sector is gathering momentum. (Lloyd's Loading List)

Shipments booked by U.S. freight brokers in the third quarter fell 4.3% year-over-year while revenue invoiced declined 11%, according to the Transportation Intermediaries Association. (Logistics Management)

British operator Clipper Logistics expanded its operating profit 23% in the six months ending Oct. 31 on strong e-commerce fulfillment business. (Logistics Manager)

Colombia opened a container terminal on the country's Pacific coast capable of handling the new generation of large container ships. (Seatrade Maritime)

Amazon is running out of space for the delivery lockers it is setting up for customers in Sacramento, Calif. (Sacramento Bee)

ABOUT US

Paul Page is deputy editor of WSJ Logistics Report. Follow him at @PaulPage, and follow the entire WSJ Logistics Report team: @brianjbaskin, @lorettachao, @smithjenBK 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

December 06, 2016 06:54 ET (11:54 GMT)

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