Today's Top Supply Chain and Logistics News From WSJ
September 29 2016 - 7:05AM
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The trial for Hanjin Shipping Co. customers may be ending but
it's still going for sailors on the foundering company's ships.
U.S. immigration officials are barring crews aboard vessels docked
at American ports from coming ashore, WSJ Logistics Report's Erica
E. Phillips writes, a decision labor groups say goes against
international seafarers' conventions. The U.S. Customs and Border
Protection agency says it is denying shore leave out of concern the
sailors won't return to their ships. The human ordeal on the
vessels is part of the chaos that has spread through the shipping
industry since Hanjin filed for bankruptcy protection in late
August. While a court in South Korea tries to determine Hanjin's
future, the company's shipping customers and cargo service
providers are working to untangle supply chains that have been
caught up in legal and operating confusion. In the meantime, the
sailors on Hanjin ships may still be weeks from setting foot on
land.
A boom in rail construction in East Africa is giving the
region's exporters better access to global markets. The completion
of a new Chinese-funded railway linking Ethiopia's capital to
neighboring Djibouti is one of the most prominent of the projects,
the WSJ's Nicholas Bariyo reports, and authorities in the
land-locked country are hoping the direct access to a seaport will
provide a new boost to Ethiopia's economy. The $4 billion project
has been underway as neighboring Kenya has been working on a $3.8
billion project, also backed by China, to build a railway from the
Port of Mombasa to Nairobi and on to other East African capitals.
The big winners in the 435-mile Ethiopian rail line will be
agriculture producers, including coffee growers. Ethiopia is
Africa's largest coffee producer, and the Addis Ababa-Djibouti line
will run directly through the coffee-growing hub of Adama on a path
to the Port of Djibouti, giving exporters a faster route to foreign
buyers.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is considering making a big move in India's
lively and highly competitive e-commerce market . The retailer is
weighing an investment in Flipkart Ltd., India's largest online
marketplace by sales, the WSJ reports, an action aimed at boosting
Wal-Mart's profile in a market that has long eluded the company. It
would also give Flipkart needed capital and a partner in its battle
against Amazon.com Inc. over online sales in the South Asian
nation. Amazon and other Western companies have turned to India as
China's economy slows, but expansion there has been problematic.
Although the potential market is large, tough local regulations and
poor logistics remain major hurdles. Only about 4% of India's
population regularly shops online, and several startups have
faltered in the fierce and fund-sapping competition for business.
The investment advances Wal-Mart's broader strategic drive by
putting its money behind e-commerce growth.
E-COMMERCE
Germany's Deutsche Post DHL Group is trying to complete an
e-commerce distribution map for Europe . The parcel delivery giant
will acquire UK Mail Group for $315.5 million, the WSJ's Natascha
Divac and Ulrike Dauer report, bolstering its presence in one of
Europe's biggest online markets at a time of booming orders for
clothes, household goods and other merchandise. It also marks the
latest in a series of moves that are redrawing Europe's package
delivery landscape. FedEx Corp. this year acquired Dutch
package-delivery company TNT Express, taking over the operator's
European ground delivery network, and Deutsche Post took a stake in
France's Relais Colis to strengthen its presence in Europe's
third-largest e-commerce market. Deutsche Post says UK Mail, which
delivers letters and parcels, gives the company a strong profile in
the Germany, U.K. and France, three countries that account for a
combined 60% of Europe's e-commerce sales.
QUOTABLE
IN OTHER NEWS
OPEC ministers reached an understanding that a cut in crude-oil
production is needed to lift petroleum prices, but they put off
until November attempts to tackle a supply glut. (WSJ)
Orders for capital goods excluding aircraft and defense grew
0.6% in August, the third straight monthly increase for a category
that roughly approximates business investment. (WSJ)
BlackBerry Ltd. will stop making its devices to focus on
software, outsourcing its hardware work and pulling out of the
bruising global smartphone race. (WSJ)
Nearly three years after merging with US Airways, American
Airlines Group Inc. faces a major challenge this weekend as it
transitions to a single flight operating system. (WSJ)
Swiss watch company executives are strongly pessimistic about
business prospects as demand in key foreign markets wanes.
(WSJ)
Wal-Mart is considering offering a fulfillment services with its
online marketplace to compete with Fulfillment by Amazon. (Internet
Retailer)
Autonomous-truck company Otto wants companies to use its
vehicles to replace freight brokers. (Reuters)
Amazon wants to build a 1 million--square-foot distribution
center in Northeast France, near Amiens. (Le Figaro)
Boeing Co. signed an agreement with Morocco to establish an
aerospace production hub in the country. (Agence France-Presse)
Google Express is expanding its delivery coverage to 13 more
states. (New Haven Register)
An investment arm of Finland's government is backing research
into autonomous freight ships. (MarineLink)
Textile mills in India are slashing yarn production because of a
drop in cotton prices. (Yarns and Fibers)
India's ports will discount vessel-related charges by 80% for
vehicle movements to push more automotive shipping to water
transport. (Automotive Logistics)
Shippers in Canada say Canada Post's complicated parcel pricing
structure harms development of e-commerce. (Toronto Star)
Amazon is adding a same-day shipping option in Canada. (The
Globe and Mail)
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, @RWhelanWSJ and @EEPhillips_WSJ, and
follow the WSJ Logistics Report on Twitter at @WSJLogistics.
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Write to Paul Page at paul.page@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 29, 2016 06:50 ET (10:50 GMT)
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