A rash of "mega-deals" during the second quarter of 2015 have made transportation and logistics one of the hottest mergers and acquisitions sectors, boosting the average deal value to $564m, according to a recent study by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Drone ships may be the next generation of shipping. Rolls Royce recently launched a $7.2m autonomous ship project intended to pave the way for drone vessels.
Just one year after its announcement, Egypt's expanded Suez Canal is open for business. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi led the inauguration ceremony, which was attended by several Middle Eastern and European world leaders. The publicly-funded expansion cost about $8.5bn.
A few years ago, the OECD embarked on a multiyear effort to create an international tax framework that closes perceived gaps in international tax rules. This includes combating base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) to ensure companies pay their "fair share" of taxes. Many of the BEPS Project's action items are expected to be finalized later this year.
The specialised reefer fleet is shrinking and shows no signs of reversing in the future. However, the reefer containership fleet has increased by 15 percent year-on-year and is set to grow 20 percent by 2018, according to Drewry's latest Reefer Shipping Market Annual Review & Forecast.
Companies that are ignorant of the opportunities for duty avoidance, made possible by free trade agreements and changing government regulations, are leaving millions of dollars on the table, says Bernie Hart, vice president of global trade management sales with Livingston International.
Moving into new markets beyond the U.S., even to nearby Canada, has its complications. A marketer of outdoor apparel and gear partnered with Purolator International to ease the way.
Iran has traditionally been a high-volume automotive market, whose geographic advantage has endowed it the potential to serve as a production hub in the Middle East. The recent lifting of economic sanctions has burnished the country's reputation as a business hotbed, with the automotive market expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 13.4 per cent from 2014 to 2022. Unsurprisingly, global original equipment manufacturers, suppliers and other market participants are exhibiting unprecedented eagerness to be a part of the Iranian growth story.
Oh, sure, go on and do it by yourself. Just try to run the company without any help. Treat suppliers like you don't need them. Go on! If there's a recipe for disaster, that's probably it: acting like you don't need anybody else's cooperation, input or ideas. The reality is quite a bit different though, isn't it? No company, no supply chain, exists in a vacuum. We do rely on each other, because no one of us can do it all, successfully, by ourselves. We need partners. Ah, but which partners – which ones are right for you?