Global Gateways

Retail Imports Expected to Drop in Typically Slow February

February 14, 2014

Import volume at the nation's major retail container ports is expected to drop 8.4 percent in February from the same time last year as the shipping cycle reaches its slowest month of the year, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.

As Cuba's Port of Mariel Becomes Major Hub, Will U.S. Miss Out on Trade Opportunities?

February 10, 2014

Art van Bodegraven, Managing Principal, van Bodegraven Associates

I was privileged to accompany the 2001 U.S. Logistics Leaders delegation to Cuba, and ended up being the expedition's recording secretary. The trip diary outlined our activities and contacts, and plunged into observations about supply chain and logistics conditions in the island nation, an inescapable force in the Caribbean Basin, a significant presence among islands it dwarfed, and with a population of some thirteen million. The trip record was published in The Journal of Business Logistics later that year.

U.S. Container Imports in 2013 Reportedly the Highest in Six Years

February 5, 2014

Zepol Corporation

U.S. vessel imports were up 3.7 percent from 2012, which totaled over 18.2 million TEUs (twenty-foot containers) brought into the United States last year. U.S. imports in 2013 started off at a slow start but ended with a surprising and unexpected surge from July through December. Annual TEUs haven't been this high since 2007, which is a good sign for a strong recession rebound in the U.S. trade industry. So far in 2014, the first three weeks of imports in January are already 5.2 percent higher than the same time last year.

Brazil Backs Billion-Dollar Port in Cuba

January 30, 2014

Maritime Executive

Cuba on Monday inaugurated a $957m port billed as the most modern in Latin America and crucial to the economic future of the communist-ruled island in a project financed by Brazil and equipped for ships passing through an expanded Panama Canal.

Assessing and Managing Risk in Global Supply Chains

January 22, 2014

SupplyChainBrain

Many companies are looking beyond China to less developed nations for sourcing, says Mark Michaels, chief commercial officer at Damco. Michaels discusses supply chain risks around the expansion into less developed areas and the pressure on providers to deliver service comparable to that in mature markets.

Changing the 'Dominant Design' of Distribution

January 20, 2014

SupplyChainBrain

Chris Caplice, executive director of the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics, discusses his research on identifying dominant designs in logistics and how these designs, in which companies are heavily invested, may be disrupted by emerging trends.

Retail Imports Expected to Be Up 4.8 Percent in January; 2013 Estimated at 2.8 Percent Over 2012

January 15, 2014

National Retail Federation

Import volume at the nation's major retail container ports is expected to grow 4.8 percent in January over the same month last year, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates. Estimates show 2013 up 2.8 percent over 2012.

The World of Humanitarian Supply Chains

January 14, 2014

SupplyChainBrain

Supply chain and logistics play key roles in responding to both acute and chronic humanitarian crises. Whether the cause is a natural disaster, armed conflict or simply undeveloped infrastructure, Jarrod Goentzel says the MIT Humanitarian Response Lab is working to improve supply chain response.

Changing the 'Dominant Design' of Distribution

January 13, 2014

Chris Caplice, Executive Director, MIT Center for SC & Logistics

Additional Runways at Heathrow, Gatwick Needed, Says UK Freight Forwarding, Logistics Services Trade Group

December 27, 2013

British International Freight Association

The UK must push ahead with expansion of capacity with new runways at Heathrow and Gatwick airports, according to the British International Freight Association, a trade group for UK freight forwarders and logistics services providers.