World Trade articles from March 2006

World Trade archives from March 2006

Colliding with the infrastructure.(economic development)
March 1, 2006... "We're heading for a collision between fast-cycle logistics and the infrastructure." Hardly the kind of dark prediction you'd expect from the Chief Executive of FedEx Freight, a preview of supply chain gridlock, but that's what Doug Duncan...

Why deficits do matter.(POLICY PERSPECTIVES)
March 1, 2006... The dollar, after significant strengthening last year fueled by positive growth and interest rate differentials against the euro zone and Japan, has now reached a turning point. This inflection marks the beginning of a transition passage into a...

New versions of AN-124 in the works.(product development)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... New versions of the massive AN-124 aircraft, which is used to transport oversized cargo, will be produced at a plant in Ulyanovsk, Russia, with the first aircraft scheduled to debut in 2008. Serial production will begin in 2010. Only three...

CSX's Gulf Coast line back on track.(railroads)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... CSX Transportation says it is resuming local freight rail service on its Gulf Coast line, which serves as a vital transportation artery to New Orleans. Over the past five months, the company has been working to restore six major bridges,...

Peak season supply chain strategies a repeat in 2006.(OCEAN)
March 1, 2006... The supply chain strategies that U.S. ocean shippers deployed last year won't change much for 2006, that means spreading out shipments to various seaports, moving cargo early to avoid peak season congestion, and working closely with ocean...

Experts urge India to move faster on RFID.(Radio frequency identification equipment)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Logistics experts at a recent RFID conference in India say the country has to move quickly to get up to speed on the increasingly popular technology. Speaking at the national RFID conference organized by the Institute of Logistics of the...

Alternative funding for nation's highways.(financing for highway construction)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... The U.S. Dept. of Transportation is seeking funding for a pilot program to explore alternative funding for new highway construction. The $100 million in funding would come from the agency's 2007 fiscal year budget, which was proposed in...

Liberalizing Kazakhstan's banking sector.(banking policy)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Kazakhstan's Prime Minister Daniyal Akhmetov is pushing for liberalization of the country's banking sector and loosen the monopoly controlled by three of Kazakhstan's largest banks. Mr. Akhmetov added that liberalization of the banking...

European pharmaceutical sector ripe for 3PL growth.(industry forecast)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Research firm Datamonitor says 3PLs have considerable potential to capture market share in the European pharmaceutical industry due to their expertise and easing of strict compliance codes. The best opportunities for 3PLs will be available...

Transportation Services Index (TSI).(Trade winds: THE LATEST TRENDS IN THE WORLD OF TRADE)
March 1, 2006... The Transportation Services Index (TSI) rose 1.2 percent in November to 112.2 (2000 = 100) from the October level of 110.9, turning up after a one-month decrease to reach a record high, reports the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of...

New box port on Thi Vai River.(port construction)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Construction has begun on the Tan Cang-Cai Mep container port, situated on the Thi Vai River in the southern coastal province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau. According to the Vietnam News Agency, the 61.2-hectare port will be built at a cost of nearly...

Energy pact gives China added security.(government contracts)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... China has signed a deal with Saudi Arabia that gives it added security for its future energy needs. Recently, Chinese President Hu Jintao has sought to bolster economic and diplomatic ties with its major oil suppliers throughout the world,...

Lawmakers dump waterfront reform.(licensing)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... A controversial plan to open up European port services to outside competition went down in a major defeat when EU lawmakers voted 532 to 120 to dump the plan. This is the second time a European port reform plan was rejected--the first one...

Faster, more direct U.S.-Asia flights.(government contracts)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... The Russian government has agreed to open more of the country's airspace to U.S. cargo carriers, which means expanded flights to Asia and improved routings. According to the Department of Transportation, the agreement also allows U.S....

Government builds country's first call centers.(call centers)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... The Ugandan government has hired an American firm to build and operate the first call centers for outsourcing, the state-owned newspaper, The New Vision, reports. The call centers, also known as outsourcing centers, have been increasingly...

U.S. truck & rail trade with NAFTA partners growing.(BY THE Numbers)
March 1, 2006... BY THE Numbers U.S. Truck & Rail Trade With NAFTA Partners Growing Sept. 2004 Sept. 2005 Percent Mode ($US millions) ($US millions) Change Truck Imports 3.7 ...

Pact marks fifth Middle Eastern FTA for U.S.(U.S.-OMAN FTA)
March 1, 2006... Officials from the U.S. and Oman have signed a free trade agreement--the fifth such pact between the U.S. and a Middle Eastern country. The agreement will result in the elimination of tariffs on all consumer and industrial products, as...

Duty-free benefits suspended since 2001.(licensing)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has announced that duty-free benefits under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) have been reinstated for Ukraine, effective January 23, 2006. Ukraine's GSP benefits, which allows for...

High-tech gives hope to struggling industry.(industry forecasts)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... A recent conference on the future of Mexico's maquiladora industry finds that low-cost manufacturing has indeed relocated to Asia and other regions, but high-tech manufacturing is taking its place. The 25-year-old maquiladora industry bad...

DOT Unveils National Freight Transportation Policy.(United States. Department of Transportation)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... The Department of Transportation has plans for a national freight transportation policy aimed at increasing freight capacity, reducing congestion and regulatory barriers, and protecting the environment, reports the Journal of Commerce. ...

Letters to the editor.(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2006... Dear Editor, In the "Tradewinds" section of your January 2006 issue, you list Armenia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine as countries of Central Europe. Then what...

New bill eases disputes over demurrage.(new legislation)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... A new California state law prevents marine terminal operators from charging truckers for returning containers and chassis late if truckers weren't able to access terminals through no fault of their own. The legislation helps resolve an...

Manufacturers want greater access to cheap labor.(labor management)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Despite fears that workers from Eastern Europe would take jobs from developed European economies following their accession to the EU, a new report by the European Commission (EC) says those fears are unfounded. At present, Germany, France...

New technology promises 'smarter' roads.(highway research)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Transportation experts say the nation's five decades old interstate highway system was not designed to handle the tremendous amount of freight that now moves by truck along U.S. roads, and they're turning to technology to try and ease the...

DHL taps Hickler.(Names & News)
March 1, 2006... DHL has tapped Hans Hickler as executive vice president of business strategy & implementation. Before joining DHL in May 2005, Hickler spent more than twenty years with the NOL Group and its subsidiaries APL and APL Logistics.

KCS Rail promotion for Freeman.(Names & News)
March 1, 2006... Kansas City Southern has promoted J. Daniel Freeman from general director strategic analysis to assistant vice president strategic analysis. Freeman has worked in the rail industry for 29 years, and joined the Kansas City Southern Railway...

Hickerson new CEO for Pacer.(Names & News)
March 1, 2006... Pacer International has appointed John Hickerson as chairman and chief executive officer of Pacer Transport. Most recently, Hickerson was the vice president of domestic intermodal marketing & sales for BNSF. Prior to joining BNSF in 2004,...

Ferguson joins Schneider National.(Names & News)
March 1, 2006... Schneider National has hired John Ferguson as general manager, Canada. Ferguson joins Schneider National after eighteen years in sales & marketing at PBB Global Logistics. He currently serves as the director of Canadian Manufacturers &...

LAN Cargo CFO assumes CEO spot.(Chief executive officers)(Chief financial officers)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... LAN Cargo has appointed Cristian Ureta, the current chief operating officer, as its new chief executive. Ureta began his career in the aviation industry as a cargo services manager for Fast Air Carrier, S.A. in Santiago, Chile, followed by...

DGX taps Ortiz-Luis.(Names & News)
March 1, 2006... Ike Ortiz-Luis has been appointed International Project Cargo Manager at DGX (Dependable Global Express) to provide operational expertise in the fast growing field of oversize, bulky ocean cargo. DGX is a major international ocean and...

Keegan takes VP spot for ChemLogix.(Names & News)
March 1, 2006... ChemLogix, a provider of integrated logistics services for the chemical industry, has appointed Ronald M. Keegan as vice president of international operations. Keegan will be responsible for further development and growth of the segment...

BAX Global appoints Mitchell.(Names & News)
March 1, 2006... BAX Global has appointed Andrew Mitchell as director of logistics business development Asia-Pacific Mitchell has fifteen years' operational experience in the pharmaceutical logistics industry, with the bulk of those years spent with...

GeoLogistics names Eisenblatter.(GeoLogistics Network Solutions appoints Thomas Eisenblatter)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... GeoLogistics has named Thomas Eisenblatter its senior vice president of Ocean Freight, effective May 1, 2006. Eisenblatter comes to the new post after twenty years in the global ocean freight industry, the last thirteen of which were spent at...

The other Asia: Southeast Asia offers a viable alternative to China.(international trade)
March 1, 2006... China is the big news in world trade, but there is another emerging story behind the headlines. Too much of a good thing can be bad, and thus manufacturers and traders are increasingly reluctant to put all their eggs in one basket. They're...

Applying the ideas of the Wal-Marts of the world to smaller companies: Vendor Management Inventory is no longer just for early adopters or "500-pound industry gorillas.".(international trade)
March 1, 2006... The supply chain was an exotic notion of interest mainly to business school professors as recently as a decade ago. Then something happened. A marker for the sea change might well be the formation of the World Trade Organization in 1995....

The CFO's agenda for global trade: as more of the business is tied up in global trade, working capital cycles become longer and harder to manage.(Company overview)
March 1, 2006... Editor's note: Aberdeen Group, in collaboration with World Trade Magazine, recently surveyed a spectrum of our readers on the impact global trade is having on corporate finances. The research sample included respondents with the following job...

What business leaders need to know about: Pacific maritime: as trade volumes hit new highs, West Coast Ports add capacity and pay more attention to the environment.(Executive Overview)
March 1, 2006... Two thousand four was a critical year for West Coast ports in general and southern California in particular. Record volumes of cargo slowed the system, caused delays in peak season and raised specters of a permanent gridlock. Shippers dependent...

Resource guide: West Coast ports.(shipping surveys)
March 1, 2006... Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach The real estate axiom, "location, location, location," epitomizes the reason for Southern California's dominance over Pacific Rim trade during the past decade and a half. With a consumer base of 17...

New product strategy drives new supply chain at Bristol-Myers Squibb: with shift to biologics comes global production and distribution.(DRIVING THE INTEGRATED GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN FROM THE TOP)
March 1, 2006... Bernard Leclere is vice president of the worldwide technical operations supply chain at Bristol-Myers Squibb. BMS is one of the world's major pharmaceutical companies, with annual sales of $16 billion, manufacturing at 33 sites worldwide and...

The trucking industry's on a roll--or is it? While demand in the sector remains strong, the state of the nation's infrastructure is threatening to put the brakes on sustainable growth.(TRANSPORTATION & LOGISTICS)
March 1, 2006... There's hardly any shortage of good news to celebrate for the trucking industry. Every segment of the industry, from LTL to TL to parcel express is booming on the heels of strong and growing demand. The big players are buying up the little...

Up and running: helping supply chain technology do its job.(supplychain technology)
March 1, 2006... Increasingly, keeping a competitive edge depends less on the product and more on getting it to customers efficiently and flexibly. Pressures continue to mount for companies trying to stay ahead: fierce competition, the U.S. economic downturn...

What can DR-CAFTA do for you? Given Central America's proximity to the U.S. and viable consumer market hungry for U.S. goods and services, the answer is 'a lot'.(GEOGRAPHICAL FOCUS)
March 1, 2006... Last summer, Congress passed one of the most controversial trade pacts in U.S. history--DR-CAFTA (the Dominican Republic--Central America Free Trade Agreement). There was strong opposition from several U.S. industry groups, namely domestic...

The father of Europe.(international trade)
March 1, 2006... On August 5, 1943, a sandy-mustached French citizen addressed his government-in-exile. His topic was not the world war, but what would follow it. "There will be no peace in Europe, if the States are reconstituted on the basis of national...