Today's Logistics Report: Amazon Opens its Warehouses; New Seafood Lures; Retail's Growing Gap
May 22 2020 - 10:53AM
Dow Jones News
By Paul Page
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May 25. The next newsletter will be sent on Tuesday, May 26.
Amazon.com Inc. is opening its logistics operations wider to
third-party suppliers as it tries to get business moving normally
again. The e-commerce behemoth has started allowing unlimited
shipments of nonessential goods to warehouses, the WSJ's Dana
Mattioli reports, as part of a broader plan to resume pre-pandemic
business operations. That includes pushing back its annual Prime
Day shopping promotion until the fall, when the company's leaders
believe distribution networks will have regained their footing.
Lifting the warehouse limits suggests Amazon can now process orders
more quickly in its warehouses and handle more inventory after its
shipping delivery times sank under a flood of orders driven by the
coronavirus lockdowns. Retail competitors have stepped in with
strong results in the meantime, in some cases claiming advantages
in using their brick-and-mortar stores for fulfillment. Amazon's
shipping speeds have improved, but the company hasn't reinstated
one-day shipping for many Prime orders.
SUPPLY CHAIN STRATEGIES
Seafood suppliers are struggling to overhaul their supply chains
and look for new customers as the coronavirus crisis takes a toll
on their business. The pandemic is hitting seafood businesses even
harder than the meat industry, the WSJ's Jesse Newman and Julie
Wernau report, crippling many of their key markets as fishermen and
processors strain to redirect their highly perishable products.
U.S. supermarket shoppers are buying more fish and shellfish to
prepare at home during quarantine, but experts say 70% of seafood
is consumed in restaurants and the sales to consumers aren't
offsetting the lost business. Fishermen across the country have
docked vessels and distributors have rerouted what fresh fish they
can into freezers, sometimes destroying the rest. In the meantime,
prices for many items have plummeted as costs climb for processors
trying to prevent the virus from spreading in seafood plants as it
has in slaughterhouses.
QUOTABLE
SUPPLY CHAIN STRATEGIES
A long-running split in the retail sector is accelerating under
the coronavirus pandemic. Department stores and apparel retailers
are staggering along with the goods and services companies that
supply them, the WSJ's Suzanne Kapner reports, while big-box chains
such as Walmart Inc., Target Corp., Home Depot Inc. and Lowe's
Cos., are coping with sales surges. The gap between the
general-merchandise and hardware retailers and the department
stores was growing even before the pandemic and economic crisis
highlighted the fragile nature of traditional business models.
Macy's Inc., Victoria's Secret parent L Brands Inc. and others
reported steep sales declines last quarter, leaving them with
mountains of excess inventory. Kohl's Corp. says it will manage its
business "very conservatively" for the rest of the year after
shedding stocks as its stores closed in March. Off-price retailer
TJX Cos. included a $500 million charge for unsold inventory in its
first-quarter loss.
IN OTHER NEWS
The pace of new unemployment claims in the U.S. fell back
slightly, with 2.4 million new filings in the past week. (WSJ)
Sales of previously owned homes in the U.S. dropped 17.8% in
April. (WSJ)
U.S. forecasters predict an above-average hurricane season,
potentially complicating logistics and shipping operations that are
already in upheaval. (WSJ)
The Trump administration is moving to withdraw from an Open
Skies aviation treaty with Russia. (WSJ)
Around 400 European business executives plan to return to China
next week, in a key milestone in normalizing business activity.
(WSJ)
Electronics retailer Best Buy Co.'s quarterly sales fell 6.3%
even though online sales doubled. (WSJ)
Drugmaker Akorn Inc. has filed for bankruptcy protection after
failing to sell the business. (WSJ)
Trade tensions are likely to dampen Australia's coal exports to
China. (S&P Global Platts)
Temperature-controlled specialist Lineage Logistics LLC acquired
assets of restaurant supplierMaines Paper & Food Service.
(Crain's Detroit Business)
China is imposing new air cargo restrictions that freight
forwarders say are fueling congestion and leaving freighters to
depart without shipments. (The Loadstar)
Greece's Port of Piraeus says container throughput rose 15.1%
last year and revenues rose 12.3% to $164 million. (Port
Technology)
Large U.S. truckload carriers are cutting capacity for the first
time in several years. (Journal of Commerce)
The Intermodal Association of North America says intermodal
volumes fell 15% in April, including a 30.5% drop in trailer
volumes. (Logistics Management)
Canada Post lost $110 million last year as growing e-commerce
parcel deliveries hurt margins. (CBC)
Transportation technology firm Samsara laid off 300 workers as
the company raised $400 million in new capital. (San Francisco
Business Times)
Gartner rated telecommunications equipment supplier Cisco
Systems Inc. as having the top supply chain in its annual rankings.
(DC Velocity)
ABOUT US
Paul Page is editor of WSJ Logistics Report. Follow the WSJ
Logistics Report team: @PaulPage , @jensmithWSJ and @CostasParis.
Follow the WSJ Logistics Report on Twitter at @WSJLogistics.
Write to Paul Page at paul.page@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 22, 2020 10:38 ET (14:38 GMT)
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