Import cargo volume at the nation's major retail container ports is expected to rise 8 percent this month over the same time last year as West Coast ports continue to recover from a backlog of cargo that built up before a tentative new labor agreement was signed, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.

There was a time when ocean carriers fashioned themselves as providers of premium, door-to-door transportation. Not anymore.

More than 4,400 ships bring nearly $400bn worth of goods through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach every year, a crucial link in the global supply chain of factories, warehouses, docks, highways and rail lines. Most blue-collar workers along the chain have seen their wages slashed with the quick rise of global trade. But the longshoremen who move the goods the shortest distance, between ship and shore, have shrewdly protected pay that trumps that of many white-collar managers.

If we're to believe the big container lines, ever-larger ships are the remedy for their financial woes. Why, then, are so many of them still losing money?

Import cargo volume at the nation's major retail container ports is expected to rise an unusually high 16.9 percent this month over the same time last year as West Coast ports begin to dig out from a backlog of cargo that built up during just-concluded contract negotiations with dockworkers, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released today by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.

With a tentative agreement in place between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), the 7-month-long West Coast port crisis has come to an end. What comes next is the final body count - what percentage of GDP shrank because of the slowdown? What was the impact on the trade deficit? Who got hit hardest, and just how hard? Then what? There may be a collective sigh of relief in the air, but can things really go back to normal? Should they?

Assuming that the rank and file of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) ratifies the new five-year contract negotiated with terminal operators, West Coast ports can finally focus on getting container-handling operations back to normal. So is everyone happy?

U.S. Carnivores U.S. meat exporters caught in the middle of the West Coast port labor standoff diverted millions of pounds of chilled pork and beef into cold storage facilities over the last few weeks, creating an oversupply of meat, analysts said.

Success in the global economy requires a shift in strategic vision of the Asia-Pacific region's role in supply chains. While it is no secret that an end to low-cost production in Asia is in sight, smart companies are studying the complexity of APAC region and gaining insight into the roles each country plays in the quickly evolving economic horizon. But visibility into where APAC is today isn't enough; forecasting where it will be next year, five years from now, and further into the future are key to positioning supply chains now for ongoing optimization.