By Paul Page 

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A new truck-appointment system at the New York Harbor may determine the future of the congestion-relief strategy at East Coast ports. The GCT USA container terminal at Bayonne, N.J., is starting a program to accept reservations for trucks to pick up or drop off cargo, WSJ Logistics Report's Jennifer Smith writes, in a bid to reduce backups that stretch from the terminal to nearby streets. Truck congestion plagues many busy ports, part of the growing concern over having industrial cargo operations alongside residential communities. It's expected to get worse as bigger ships arrive and concentrate cargo handling into tighter time windows. Some truckers are wary of reservation systems, however, saying they can complicate operations and prove costly, especially when drivers miss appointments while tied up on the busy roads around New York and Newark, N.J. West Coast ports use the systems, but the New York-area system may prove that if truckers can meet the schedules there they can make them anywhere.

Vietnam is looking for new trade partnerships as the country tries to dodge the potential impact of tensions between the U.S. and China. A meeting this week between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and top Vietnamese leaders followed earlier visits to Hanoi by leaders of France and India, the WSJ's James Hookway reports, as Vietnam looks to find deals that keep the country's recent trade momentum on track. The maneuvering is a sign of how countries in Asia are adjusting their policies on the fly following the collapse of the ambitious Trans-Pacific Partnership and President-elect Donald Trump's promised upheaval in trade relations. The need for new partners is especially acute for Vietnam, which has reinvented itself as a trading nation and relies heavily on the free navigation of the South China Sea. Economists also held it up as one of the biggest potential beneficiaries of the TPP, leaving Vietnam as perhaps the biggest loser in the trade deal's failure unless it can forge new trade and security relationships.

American consumers splurged to close out 2016, but the spending wasn't evenly spread around. New figures from the government showed strong gains in car sales and in online shopping, with overall sales surging 4.4% in the fourth quarter, but little other good news for the retail world, the WSJ's Josh Mitchell and Suzanne Kapner report. A separate report from the National Retail Federation showed holiday sales rose 4% in November and December. That's fairly strong growth by historic standards, but there were clear winners and losers. Spending on furniture rose at a healthy pace during the holidays, defying recent sales spending away from hard goods, and online stores had a big quarter. But that shift continued to wallop brick-and-mortar outlets like Macy's Inc. and Sears Holdings Corp. In all of 2016, spending rose 11% at online retailers and fell almost 6% at department stores. The figures show the retail economy is getting stronger but that companies still are scrambling to change their supply chains as fast as consumers are changing buying patterns.

SUPPLY CHAIN STRATEGIES

With e-commerce the clear winner during the holidays, it looks like online businesses are seeing important gains since the sales peak ended. Unwanted holiday gifts and lightly worn clothes from years past are swelling the inventory of fast-growing online consignment and secondhand clothing retailers, the WSJ's Patrick McGroarty reports. One business, Swap.com, has filled a sprawling warehouse outside Chicago with clothing that 200 full-time workers are unpacking, repricing and preparing for resale. The operation is part of the field known as reverse logistics that's grown increasingly significant as online sales have grown more important in retail trade. Up to 30% of online holiday purchases are returned, according to the National Retail Federation, compared with about 10% of holiday purchases overall. And used-apparel stores estimate about a quarter of their merchandise is shipped in new, much of it the result of misbegotten online sales.

China may be about to dramatically lower its costs for raw materials that go into steel and aluminum production. Indonesia just eased its three-year-old ban on nickel-ore and bauxite exports, the WSJ's Biman Mukherji reports, a potential boon for China, which has been hopscotching around Southeast Asia, Australia and even Africa to find raw minerals to feed its steel mills. Indonesia had been a key provider to China of nickel, most of which is used for making stainless steel, and of bauxite, a key ingredient in aluminum. The decision is the latest sign of turbulence in the commodities market. Experts had been expecting a "supply deficit" in the industrial raw materials this year, and now they're wondering whether the market can absorb the added supply. The cheaper inputs also add a new wrinkle to China's production of steel and aluminum that has roiled global industrial markets.

QUOTABLE

IN OTHER NEWS

German car makers scrambled to defend their manufacturing strategies after President-elect Donald Trump singled out BMW AG for criticism over its plans for production in Mexico. (WSJ)

A 747-400 freighter owned by Turkey's ACT Airlines crashed into a village just south of the capital of Kyrgyzstan, killing at least 37 people. (WSJ)

Mr. Trump plans to name real-estate developers and longtime friends Richard LeFrak and Steven Roth to lead a new council to monitor federal spending on infrastructure. (WSJ)

Freight broker Neovia Logistics launched a debt restructuring that would eliminate $117 million bonds set to mature in 2018. (WSJ)

The British pound took another sharp turn downward against the dollar ahead of a key speech this week by U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May. (WSJ)

Eurozone exports jumped 3.3% in November while imports increased 1.8% from October. (WSJ)

Daimler AG led a $17.2 million investment in London-based Starship Technologies, which specializes in robots that deliver goods to customers' doors.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. shuffled e-commerce executives as it integrates its Jet.com acquisition more into its online business. (WSJ)

U.S. companies are pouring money into Mexico's energy sector, betting the plunging peso and other economic stress won't disrupt their business. (WSJ)

Ray-Ban maker Luxottica Group SpA will merge with French optical-lens maker Essilor International SA, creating a $49 billion global eyewear giant. (WSJ)

China's direct investment overseas is likely to decline this year, reversing years of rapid increases that fueled global booms in infrastructure and real estate. (WSJ)

Dubai's DP World signed an agreement with Kazakhstan to develop a special economic zone in the Caspian Sea city of Aktau. (The National)

Taiwanese iPhone assembler Pegatron says it could at least triple its U.S. manufacturing operations if necessary. (Nikkei Asian Review)

J.C. Penney Chief Executive Marvin Ellison says in-store pickups of online sales are helping improve the retailer's e-commerce efficiency. (Dallas Morning News)

Sales at British online apparel merchant ASOS PLC Holdings jumped 36% in the last four months of 2016, boosted by sales to U.S. shoppers. (Internet Retailer)

China's iron ore imports fell 8% in December but still reached an annual record of more than 1 billion metric tons. (Reuters)

Global cotton shippers are looking at using blockchain technology to make trading more secure and efficient. (Sourcing Journal)

The southwestern Pennsylvania region can expect freight moving through the area on all modes to increase by 40% by 2040. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Germany-based chemical and oil logistics specialist Talke will spend $20 million to expand operations in the Houston area. (Houston Chronicle)

Two Greek shipping companies were ordered to pay $2.7 million in penalties on charges related to dumping oil sludge near the Port of Wilmington, N.C. (Virginian-Pilot)

The U.S. rejected an application by Venezuelan freight airline Transcarga Airways to run charter flights to U.S. cities. (CH-Aviation)

Freight broker Total Quality Logistics is opening a station in Milwaukee it says will have up to 75 workers in three years. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

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 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

January 17, 2017 06:53 ET (11:53 GMT)