World Trade articles from December 2005

World Trade archives from December 2005

Taking global trade to the next level.(INSIDE WORLD TRADE)
December 1, 2005... Looking into a crystal ball is risky business. Those who lay claim to being soothsayers had best caution their customers to hedge all bets. When it comes to the global supply chain, though, there's no alternative to taking big future positions...

Restrict trade agreements only in very special circumstances.(POLICY PERSPECTIVES)
December 1, 2005... January 1, 2005. For years, that date inspired fear and dread in U.S. policymakers and textile producers, for the toll of midnight on December 31, 2004 would herald the abolition of the global quota system that regulated the international trade...

Transportation Services Index (TSI).(Trade winds: THE LATEST TRENDS IN THE WORLD OF TRADE)
December 1, 2005... The Transportation Services Index (TSI) fell 0.1 percent in August to 111.5 (2000=100) from the July level of 111.6, the third consecutive monthly decline, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation...

Cisco to invest $1 billion in 3 years, scale unprecedented.(Cisco Systems Inc.)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Cisco Systems says it will invest $1.1 billion in India over the next 3 years in research and development and other support services. "We have never done anything of this magnitude," remarked president and CEO John Chambers on the sizeable...

Soaring costs squeeze U.S. exporters.(LATIN AMERICA AIRFREIGHT)
December 1, 2005... U.S. exporters whose business depends on the growing Latin American market are getting hit with a double whammy--soaring airfreight costs and tighter capacity. Air cargo operators say the cost of jet fuel has gone up two and one-half times...

Region remains top pick for industrial real estate.(United Parcel Service of America Inc. opens new distribution center campus in Southern California)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... UPS has opened a new distribution center campus in Southern California's 'Inland Empire," nearby Ontario International Airport and east of the port complex of Los Angeles-Long Beach. Despite the supply chain crunch that shippers have...

NOL appoints Foo, Lutt.(Names & News)
December 1, 2005... Neptune Orient Lines has tapped Cedric Foo, NOL group deputy president, to assume the additional responsibilities of president, Asia/Middle East. In addition, Brian Lutt has been named as president of the company's APL Logistics unit,...

Northwest Airlines Cargo joins SkyTeam.(Names & News)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Northwest Airlines Cargo has become the eighth member of SkyTeam Cargo, the global airfreight alliance.The president of NWA Cargo, Jim Friedel, said the move will help the carrier cut costs for purchasing, handling services, trucking services,...

Panalpina expands in Alabama.(Names & News)
December 1, 2005... Swiss-owned forwarding and logistics group Panalpina has opened a new logistics service center in Montgomery, Alabama to serve automotive customers in the Southeast. The facility is located near Hyundai Motor's manufacturing plant, which...

Massive cut in farm aid could salvage negotiations.(EU LIFTS PROSPECTS FOR WTO TALKS)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... The EU has proposed its biggest cuts ever in farm aid as a way to jump-start negotiations in the upcoming WTO ministerial meeting in Hong Kong in mid-December. According to the EU's top trade chief, Peter Mandelson, the plan would reduce...

Contingency planning takes on new meaning in face of modern perils.(GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN THREATS)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... The world's an increasingly scary place and supply chains are at greater risk then ever--that's the consensus of a recent poll of financial executives from Britain and North America who say the top threat to their revenues is not directly due...

AGOA needs to cover more sectors.(The African Growth and Opportunity Act )(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), signed into law in 2000, has already increased U.S.-Africa trade to over $35 billion, hut not everyone is benefiting, say lawmakers. According to Republican Congressman Chris Smith, the...

Top 10 NAFTA land ports.(BY THE Numbers)
December 1, 2005... Top 10 NAFTA Land Ports 1. Detroit, MI 2. Laredo, TX 3. Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY 4. Port Huron, MI 5. El Paso, TX 6. Otay Mesa, CA 7. Champlain-Rouses Pt., NY 8. Nogales, AZ 9. Hidalgo, TX 10....

Global supply chain crystal ball: experts tell you what to expect in 2006.(Cover Story)
December 1, 2005... It is a publishing rite the annual look ahead to see what awaits in the new year. When it comes to the global supply chain, looking within the crystal ball can be particularly challenging. Why? Because there are so many different elements to...

Matson[R].(View from the Top)(Company Profile)
December 1, 2005... Matson 555 12th Street Oakland, CA 94607 www.matson.com 1-800-4-MATSON View from the Top Jim Andrasick President and CEO Matson Navigation Company When it comes to logistics, Matson's service spans the...

Safety in the skies: Homeland Security amendments could disrupt fast-growing air cargo industry.
December 1, 2005... Will two proposed amendments to the 2006 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) authorization bill hinder the flow of air cargo on passenger airlines? Experts in the industry think so, claiming these amendments-especially the one calling for...

Increasing demand and improved facilities keep business booming at the Port of Brownsville.(View from the Top)
December 1, 2005... Located at the southern tip of Texas and connected to the Gulf of Mexico, this first class deep-water seaport continues to be a busy hub of transportation options. Its five modes of available transportation include ship, barge, rail, truck and...

Building a culture of flexibility: as supply chains grow longer so does risk. The author of The Resilient Enterprise says the key is building organizations capable of fast response.
December 1, 2005... Some organizations respond to disruption better than others not because their supply chain designs are fundamentally different, but because there is something in their DNA that is conducive r to fast response. What makes some organizations so...

Safe or sorry? How compliance failures can stop your supply chain cold.(Advertisement)
December 1, 2005... When things go wrong for a company, the first question regulatory officials ask may be: "Did you know who you were doing business with?" If the answer is Yes, the company faces serious company and personal liability issues. If the answer is No,...

New trade finance approaches to secure the supply chain: Citigroup replacing letter of credit with vendor financing in emerging markets.
December 1, 2005... Although it now seems hard to believe, conventional wisdom regarded trade finance as something that would continue to be transacted as it had always been--largely by way of Letters of Credit. How totally wrong that was! No longer a sleepy...

Yang Ming line: strong roots anchor a growing company.(View form the Top)
December 1, 2005... Yang Ming's marine transportation roots date back as far as the Ching Dynasty in the late 19th Century. Today, it is one of the world's leading container transportation companies. Expansion of the European Union (EU) and increasing demand...

Pitney Bowes invests in global sourcing as a core competency: converting procurement into an enterprise-wide supply chain strategy.(DRIVING THE INTEGRATED GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN FROM THE TOP)(Interview)(Company Profile)
December 1, 2005... Laura Taylor is vice president, Global Procurement Strategy Operations, Enterprise Procurement, for Pitney Bowes, which, headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, is a $5.4 billion global leader of integrated mail and document management...

Transportation management in uncertain times: tips for getting the most value out of your transportation supply chain.(TECHNOLOGY)
December 1, 2005... In today's transportation environment, the perfect storm is brewing. Carrier capacity growth is lagging significantly behind demand growth and shippers are paying a premium for service that is sinking below previous performance levels. In the...

Too much of good thing: Brazilian trade is booming, but the seaports and infrastructure are struggling to keep up.(FOCUS: GEOGRAPHICAL)
December 1, 2005... "Port congestion in Latin America continues to be a challenge, particularly in Brazil," says Frank Larkin, Senior Vice President, Hamburg Sud North America (www. hamburgsud.com). And that's putting it mildly for some shippers, who complain that...

Steering closer to the wind: container shipping adjusts to new global supply chain strategies.(TRANSPORTATION & LOGISTICS)
December 1, 2005... The ocean transport industry continues to evolve rapidly in significant ways. How this sector shakes out in terms of players and practices will have important impact on the way shippers manage global supply chains. In developing business...

Santa Claus's supply chain.(Great Moments IN WORLD TRADE)
December 1, 2005... Look out here he comes. Christmas has changed in four centuries since Dutch settlers first brought the legend of "Sinter Klass" to American soil. Then the colonial population numbered about 100,000. Top children's toys included straw dolls and...

Putting a tax efficient global supply chain to work.
December 1, 2005... If the ability to learn faster than your competitors is one of the only truly sustainable competitive advantages, then nowhere is agile learning more critical to corporate America than knowing how to apply tax planning to the global supply...