China's regulators have blocked the P3 mega-alliance between Maersk, MSC and CMA CGM on the grounds that it infringes the country's competition laws between Asia and Europe, particularly with respect to the lines' combined market share of 46.7 percent. The law enforcers appear to believe that the cost reductions gained by the P3 carriers would either have been offset by this unacceptably high risk of market concentration, or would not have been passed back to shippers satisfactorily. Where to now?

UL LLC, the safety consulting and certification company, has expanded its Information & Insights (I&I) services division with the acquisitions of GoodGuide, IDES, Innovadex and The Wercs.

The Transported Asset Protection Association (TAPA) launched what it calls the most comprehensive supply chain security standards in TAPA's 17-year history to combat increasingly sophisticated thefts.

A year ago, China's light-emitting diode industry seemed like a case study of industrial policy gone awry. Hundreds of factories built all over eastern China, often with lavish clean energy subsidies from state-owned banks and local governments, were operating at half capacity. The share prices of LED manufacturers were plunging. Now demand is surging, and the Chinese manufacturers suddenly find their factories running at full tilt, churning out LEDs faster and cheaper than global rivals.

Safety science company Underwriters Laboratories launched its Information & Insights division, created to meet the demands by businesses for more sustainably made products - including housewares, beauty supplies, cleaning products and consumer technologies from computers to smart devices - and sustainable supply chains.