Over the past decade, Chinese companies have built bulging order books in Africa, cutting their teeth in a part of the world where Western competitors, when present at all, have not brought their A team. The Chinese astutely calculate that the wealth they accumulate in Africa and the lessons they learn will serve them well as they push into bigger, richer, and tougher markets.

The Highway Trust Fund will soon run out of money. Passing a new highway bill is critical not only to the trucking industry but to every shipper that relies on truck transportation and to America's competitiveness, says Randy Mullett, vice president of government relations and public affairs at Con-way Freight.

Companies are looking more towards chief purchasing officers to help them understand supply chain risks, while firms which are collaborating and sharing information about their suppliers are reducing the cost of due diligence for themselves and making their business more competitive.

Although U.S. companies still trail their European counterparts in using the Chinese currency renminbi for cross-border deals, the frequency has nearly doubled in the past year, according to a recent HSBC study, as reported by the publication Treasury & Risk.

The largest private employer in China and one of the biggest supply chain manufacturers in the world, Foxconn, announced it will soon start using robots to help assemble devices at its several sprawling factories across China. Apple, one of Foxconn's biggest partners to help assemble its iPhones, iPads, will be the first company to use the new service.

Ships powered by liquefied natural gas can expect a substantial reduction in the port tariff when they call at the Port of Gothenburg in the future.

Wal-Mart Canada Corp. has purchased two privately held Canadian logistics firms that have acted as Wal-Mart service providers: trucking company Translogic Express Dedicated Inc. (TEDI) and distribution centre operator SCM.