American Shipper

Chris Dupin Monday, May 20, 2013

Drewry forecasts more slow steaming

   Drewry is predicting an increase in slow steaming by container carriers.    “Although slow steaming continues to be a contentious issue with shippers, more is on the way as fuel prices remain stubbornly high and ocean carriers can no longer absorb the bill due to the parlous nature of their finances,” the London-based consultant […]

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Chris Dupin Monday, May 20, 2013

Georgia Ports has record April

   Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) moved 2.4 million tons of cargo in April, a 4.7 percent increase — or 108,532 tons –- over the same month a year ago.    “Our total tonnage makes April the highest volume month on record,” said GPA Executive Director Curtis Foltz    The GPA handled 258,951 TEU, 10,040 TEUs […]

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FreightWaves Staff Monday, May 20, 2013

Virginia to open Canadian agriculture trade office

   The state of Virginia will open an international trade office in Canada this year to further promote exports of agriculture and forestry products, which hit an all-time high last year, Virginia Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry Todd Haymore recently reiterated.     During remarks May 9 at the Virginia Maritime Association’s annual banquet in Norfolk, […]

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FreightWaves Staff Monday, May 20, 2013

Developer adds California retail distribution space

   Port Logistics Group has added two new facilities spanning more than 1.1 million square feet to its retail distribution campus in City of Industry, Calif. The development now boasts more than 2.5 million square feet of space.    The first new building, a 350,000-square-foot facility, will house new and existing clients. A 775,000-square-foot development […]

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FreightWaves Staff Monday, May 20, 2013

Virgin Cargo optimistic about road ahead

   In its recently ended fiscal year, Virgin Atlantic Cargo boosted its market share on 30 routes, sometimes gaining up to 40 percent of the share of a given lane. That aggressiveness helped lead to cargo results that, despite a terrible cargo market, were basically flat when compared to the previous year.    Virgin Cargo […]

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Chris Dupin Monday, May 20, 2013

Shift in wind trade direction at Corpus Christi

   Port Corpus Christi says it has been a leading port for imports of wind energy turbine components since 2006, but last week handled components for export for the first time.    On Saturday, 35 Mitsubishi wind blades made in Ciudad Juarez in northern Mexico were loaded on a vessel carrier operated by NYK-Hinode.   […]

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Chris Gillis Sunday, May 19, 2013

Concentrating risk on the seas

   Remember back to 1996 when Maersk introduced the 6,400-TEU Regina Maersk to the Europe-Asia trade?    Then the vessel was considered the giant of the sea, unable to fit through the Panama Canal and barely able to enter fully laden in many U.S. East Coast ports due to its hull depth. Since renamed the […]

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FreightWaves Staff Sunday, May 19, 2013

Secret weapon for small business exports

By Jerry Cook    In my last column, I wrote about the recent study by Prof. Matthew Slaughter of Dartmouth University on American participation in complex global supply networks, and how this engagement with the world benefits our economy here at home. One of the most interesting findings of that report was that over 25 […]

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Chris Dupin Sunday, May 19, 2013

Crusaders or pirates?

   In late April, six Greenpeace protesters boarded the vessel Meister, which was carrying coal from northern Queensland, Australia to South Korea.    “Right now there is no political solution to this problem because all the major political parties have committed to doubling and trebling our coal exports,” they said.    The Australian Coal Association […]

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Chris Dupin Sunday, May 19, 2013

Problem pallets

U.S., Canadian shippers struggle to meet anti-bug rules for cargo platform. By Chris Dupin    Wood packaging material, such as pallets, crates, and dunnage, used to secure freight has been subject to strict U.S. regulation under an agreement known as the International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures No. 15 (ISPM 15) since September 2005.    The idea […]

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FreightWaves Staff Sunday, May 19, 2013

Intermodal to Mexico

Kansas City Southern markets border-crossing alternative to trucks. By Jon Ross    The current boom in Mexican trade has mostly benefitted truck carriers, but Kansas City Southern is trying to corner the market on intermodal moves, even convincing some shippers to jettison their trailered transportation and hop on the tracks.    Nearly a decade ago, KCS […]

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FreightWaves Staff Sunday, May 19, 2013

South of the border

Mexico, once again, becomes attractive to U.S. shippers. By Jon Ross    In today’s burgeoning trade between the United States and Mexico, a business that reached nearly $500 billion in 2012, a change in perception is taking place.    No longer is “Made in Mexico” a phrase never to be uttered. American consumers and shippers alike […]

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FreightWaves Staff Sunday, May 19, 2013

The natural gas option for transportation

By Walter Kemmsies, chief economist, Moffatt & Nichol    Energy is involved in every economic transaction and therefore affects not only transportation operations but the markets they serve. While the implications of rising energy demand are far too great to be discussed here, it is worth focusing on the possibility that natural gas will gain […]

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Chris Dupin Sunday, May 19, 2013

Re-stitching U.S.-flag services

Liner carriers set changes to their fleets as Iraq, Afghanistan wars end. By Chris Dupin    The U.S. merchant marine is adjusting to the drawdown in military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan by reconfiguring their services.    In April APL announced plans to take four of its U.S.-flag ships out service — the President Adams, President […]

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Chris Dupin Sunday, May 19, 2013

Latin attraction

United States expects to bolster trade with South America, hastening liner carrier service changes. By Chris Dupin    In the past month, the Obama administration has been drawing renewed attention to the importance of trade between the United States and Latin America.    In early May, the president visited both Mexico and Costa Rica, and at […]

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Chris Dupin Sunday, May 19, 2013

Does container industry want this market?

   In late April, a joint venture by ACM Shipping and broker GFI Group exited the container derivatives market.    A GFI spokeswoman said the firm might return someday to the business, but today there were “not enough willing participants to trade.” Together with ACM and McQuilling, GFI continues to offer tanker and dry bulk […]

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