PG Procter and Gamble Co

By Paul Page 

Sign up: With one click, get this newsletter delivered to your inbox.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Procter & Gamble Co. have shown that close collaboration between retailers and suppliers can produce strong results. More recently, the ties appear to be fraying as the big changes in the retail landscape put the companies on different, sometimes conflicting paths. The world's largest retailer and the world's biggest consumer-goods company are increasingly butting heads, the WSJ's Sarah Nassauer and Sharon Terlep write, as they navigate a market being roiled by online competition and changing consumer tastes. Wal-Mart is bulking up its e-commerce profile, closing stores, shrinking inventory and pressing suppliers, including P&G, for concessions. P&G, which once invested with Wal-Mart in a series of big distribution centers to get goods to stores faster, is pushing Wal-Mart to preserve higher prices on some items and provide more shelf space. The outsized role the companies have in the shifting retail market means that their ability to solve today's market strains may say a lot about retail-supplier relationships in the future.

What a difference a year makes at U.S. West Coast ports. After scrambling last spring to recover from deep labor strife, California gateways are providing glimmers of an ocean-borne rebound as companies gear up for the peak shipping season. The Port of Los Angeles reported a 15% jump in its container imports last month, WSJ Logistics Report's Erica E. Phillips writes, giving the nation's biggest port the busiest May in its history. Long Beach and Oakland also reported that imports expanded in May, and that volume reached the highest level since last August. That's a relatively typical seasonal turn but welcome growth at ports that were coping with backlogs last year. Big questions still remain over the trans-Pacific shipping market, including worries that retailers aren't yet convinced that there's enough demand to speed up the flow of goods later this year.

The head of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. stepped into a firestorm over fakes , but Jack Ma also highlighted a little-discussed problem in supply chains. Mr. Ma, who has drawn criticism over counterfeit goods on Alibaba's marketplaces, said this week that fake goods "are of better quality and better price than the real names." The comments raise important questions about the outsourcing that observers say is behind the spread of many fakes in China, the WSJ's Eva Dou writes. Experts believe a key flaw of contract manufacturing is that it can leave factories producing both brand-name goods and the knockoffs, and leaves intellectual property moving through a supply chain that firms can't fully control. For now, the concern over the spread of fakes is focused mostly on China. But with Alibaba targeting global growth, retailers worry that supply chains will spin even farther out of their control.

SUPPLY CHAIN STRATEGIES

Airbus Group SE is facing new supply chain woes in its aircraft production line . The aircraft manufacturer is pushing back delivery of its new A350-1000 long-range planes to the second half of next year, the WSJ's Robert Wall reports, amid supplier problems similar to the backlogs that have bedeviled deliveries of its A320neo single-aisle plane. Delays in aircraft deliveries aren't uncommon but the concerns over fundamentals such as supplier deliveries underscore the growing complexity of jet manufacturing supply chains, where complicated and costly components are sourced from around the world on a tight schedule. For the A350, French supplier Zodiac Aerospace says it is still struggling to meet commitments for lavatories. Tighter controls have improved the quality of the items -- but it's also slowed shipments.

QUOTABLE

IN OTHER NEWS

The Federal Reserve held its benchmark lending rate steady as officials signaled a gloomier economic outlook for the coming year. (WSJ)

Starbucks Corp. named Hans Melotte, former chief procurement office at Johnson & Johnson, as its executive vice president for global supply chain. (WSJ)

U.S. industrial output fell 0.4% last month as manufacturing production declined. (WSJ)

The producer-price index for final demand increased 0.4% in May, largely because of rising energy prices. (WSJ)

More chief executives say their firms intend to step up capital expenditures this year, hinting at a rebound for slumping business investment. (WSJ)

Siemens AG and Gamesa Corporacion Tecnologica SA are preparing to combine their wind-power activities and create the world's largest wind turbine maker. (WSJ)

Online subscription-box startup Birchbox Inc. suspended plans to open physical stores as it scales back operations and growth plans. (WSJ)

Midwest regional less-than-truckload carrier Moran Transportation Corp. acquired Minnesota-based Mats Trucking. (Transport Topics)

The U.S. Surface Transportation Board outlined the measures it plans to use to expedite handling of shipper freight rail pricing complaints. (Railway Age)

The Port of Singapore reported its first year-over-year gain in container volume in 15 months in May. (Straits Times)

Scorpio Bulkers Inc. will sell 20 million shares in a public offering to raise $61 million. (Lloyd's List)

Russian Railways plans to offer new freight services along the developing China-Europe rail route. (European Railway Review)

Logistics companies are warning that days-long delays are hitting Bangladesh's Port of Chittagong, a key apparel export gateway. (Sourcing Journal)

Japan's Nippon Express Co. Ltd. is in talks to buy a minority stake in India's TVS Logistics Services Ltd. (Live Mint)

Several Japanese logistics operators are boosting investments in Southeast Asia, including new operations in Vietnam. (Nikkei Asian Review)

Suez Canal authorities recently detained an unidentified ship for using a drone without authority as it moved through the canal. (Splash 24/7)

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.

Subscribe to this email newsletter by clicking here: http://on.wsj.com/Logisticsnewsletter .

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 16, 2016 06:38 ET (10:38 GMT)

Procter and Gamble (NYSE:PG)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024

Procter and Gamble (NYSE:PG)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024