JoC Week articles from April 2005

JoC Week archives from April 2005

Getting the numbers right.(International Trade Data Users Inc.)
April 25, 2005... Alvis Pauga has spent most of his career working with trade statistics. Over the last three decades, he's seen them become more accurate, more comprehensive and, thanks to the Internet, more accessible. But there's still room for improvement....

No word yet on Marad job.(RADAR SCREEN)(maritime administrator)(Brief Article)
April 25, 2005... The White House has a short list of candidates to be maritime administrator, but it's unclear when a successor to William Schubert will be named. John Jamian, Schubert's second-in-command who is acting administrator, apparently will not be...

Truck manifest is rolling.(Automated Commercial Environment)(Brief Article)
April 25, 2005... The Automated Truck Manifest, a key part of Customs' Automated Commercial Environment, is finally open for business at Blaine, Wash. ACE developers have had the system up and down a couple of times since the truck manifest system began...

'Next-millennium roundtable'.(RADAR SCREEN)(Brief Article)
April 25, 2005... Frank McDonough, president of the New York Shipping Association, says New York-New Jersey port interests need to bring others into the discussion about how to strengthen the port. McDonough, honored last week by the 235-year-old Marine...

Breakthrough at Kvaerner.(RADAR SCREEN)(Brief Article)
April 25, 2005... Officials at Kvaerner Philadelphia shipyard have been saying that to become internationally competitive, U.S. shipbuilders need to build ships in series instead of one or two at a time. That's why they consider this month's $1 billion...

In the driver's seat.(RADAR SCREEN)(Brief Article)
April 25, 2005... Want a job with a future? Become a truck driver. Demand for drivers to haul containers at U.S. ports is so strong that these workers "are becoming the computer programmers of the decade," according to Bruce Fenimore, president of the Columbia...

Crawfishing on Byrd Amendment.(RADAR SCREEN)(Brief Article)
April 25, 2005... Louisiana members of Congress are complaining that Customs and Border Protection has collected less than 10 percent of the $295.5 million in anti-dumping duties imposed on Chinese producers of crawfish between 2002 and 2004. Under the Byrd...

Spiralveyor almost ready.(RADAR SCREEn)(Port of Lake Charles)(spiralveyor)(Brief Article)
April 25, 2005... After repeated delays, the Port of Lake Charles, La., is preparing to begin operation of an automated "spiralveyor" it hopes will enable it to dominate the loading of bagged cargo on the Gulf Coast. The $71 million terminal, using new...

Steel imports are back.(RADAR SCREEN)(Brief Article)
April 25, 2005... Steel imports, hurt by the short-lived import restrictions that the Bush administration imposed in 2002, rebounded last year but still aren't back to peak levels. The Port of New Orleans handled 4 million tons of steel imports last year, a...

TSA warns shippers on demurrage.(THE WEEK)(Brief Article)
April 25, 2005... TSA Warns Shippers On Demurrage: Shipping lines in the eastbound trans-Pacific trade are warning shippers to expect strict enforcement of storage charges at ports and railyards. The Transpacific Stabilization Agreement, representing 13...

Teamsters return to Copenhagen.(THE WEEK)
April 25, 2005... Teamsters Return To Copenhagen: The Teamsters union took its international campaign to organize port truck drivers to Denmark last week. Chuck Mack, director of the union's port division, told an A.P. Moller shareholders meeting that Maersk...

Loy becomes consultant.(THE WEEK)(James M. Loy joins The Cohen Group)(Brief Article)
April 25, 2005... Loy Becomes Consultant: Adm. James M. Loy has joined The Cohen Group, a Washington consulting group, as senior counselor. Loy retired March 1 as the No. 2 official in the Department of Homeland Security. He was previously the head of the...

COAC to meet May 5.(THE WEEK)(Commercial Operations of Customs and Border Protection)(Brief Article)
April 25, 2005... COAC To Meet May 5: The Departmental Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of Customs and Border Protection, known as COAC, will meet on May 5 at the Ronald Reagan International Trade Building in Washington. Among the agenda items are...

CSX to appeal Hazmat ruling.(THE WEEK)(Brief Article)
April 25, 2005... CSX To Appeal Hazmat Ruling: CSX Transportation said it would appeal a federal court ruling that upheld a District of Columbia law banning shipments of hazardous materials through the nation's capital. CSXT said the Transportation, Justice...

Montreal volume rises.(THE WEEK)(Port of Montreal)(Brief Article)
April 25, 2005... Montreal Volume Rises: First-quarter container volume through the Port of Montreal totaled 303,498 TEUs, a 12.2 percent increase from the same period a year ago, but Dominic Taddeo, the port's chief executive, said he expects container...

Hickler leaves APL Logistics.(THE WEEK)(Hans Hickler)(Brief Article)
April 25, 2005... Hickler Leaves APL Logistics: Neptune Orient Lines announced that Hans Hickler has resigned as chief executive of APL Logistics. David Lim, president and chief executive of NOL Group, said Hickler had resigned to pursue another opportunity....

Cosco Pacific in China Port venture.(THE WEEK)(with Guangzhou Port Group )(Brief Article)
April 25, 2005... Cosco Pacific In China Port Venture: Cosco Pacific, the terminal-operating unit of China Ocean Shipping (Group) Co., has formed a $483 million joint venture with Guangzhou Port Group to build and manage a terminal at Nansha in South China....

Zim adds Wilmington, NC, call.(THE WEEK)(Zim Integrated Shipping Services Ltd)(Brief Article)
April 25, 2005... Zim Adds Wilmington, NC, Call: Zim Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. has added a call at the Port of Wilmington, N.C. to its Asia/USA Express (AUX) service. The service provides a weekly, all-water schedule to and from North China as well as...

Wheels of fortune.(Cover Story)
April 25, 2005... Capacity is drum-tight, charter rates are soaring, and carriers are restructuring their routes to free up tonnage for their most in-demand trades. That description sounds like the container trades. It also fits roll-on, roll-off shipping, but...

Pasha enters Hawaii market: U.S.-built vessel competes with Matson, Horizon.(Pasha Hawaii Transport Lines L.L.C.)
April 25, 2005... During last year's peak season, ocean carriers routinely dropped ports from normal rotations to keep to schedules. During the March maiden voyage of the Jean Anne, officials of Pasha Hawaii Transport Lines made a decision to add another port...

Autos a bright spot for Portland: Toyota to use expanded terminal.(Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc.)
April 25, 2005... The Port of Portland, Ore., struggling mightily on the container front after the recent loss of two carriers, has good news to report on the auto front. Portland has long been the West Coast's largest auto port, handling 358,682 units last...

More than just a car carrier: Wallenius Wilhelmsen expands into auto processing and logistics.(Wallenius Wilhelmsen Lines A/S)
April 25, 2005... Having already solidified its position in European auto logistics, Wallenius Wilhelmsen Lines is taking dead aim on the market for auto logistics and processing in the U.S. Four years ago, the Norwegian car carrier acquired a 40 percent stake...

New ports on the West Coast? Operators look to Canada and Mexico, but proposed sites will require time and money.
April 25, 2005... With many West Coast container terminals bumping up against their capacity even as imports from Asia are projected to double over the next l0 years, international terminal operators are looking beyond the traditional U.S. gateways to build...

In the dark? Truckers say a shortage of drivers could undermine PierPass's bid to shift more terminal traffic to nights and weekends.
April 25, 2005... For months, Los Angeles-Long Beach marine terminals have been preparing for the start of PierPass, a program to shift more truck traffic to night and weekend hours. In anticipation of that, Devine Intermodal recently called about 100 of its...

Short-sea vs. HMT: advocates of coastwise shipping want the tax waived, but they face an uphill battle.
April 25, 2005... There are hurdles that short-sea shipping must clear to be an industry, and the first on virtually everyone's list is the Harbor Maintenance Tax. Fix the tax that the government collects on coastwise maritime cargo, and the alternative...

Tote that barge: shortage of truck drivers boosts demand for Columbia Coastal's container-on-barge feeders.(Columbia Coastal Transport Inc.)
April 25, 2005... After a tough four years brought on by the expansion of ocean carrier services to ports on the East Coast that cut deeply into its business, Columbia Coastal has seen its container-on-barge feeder services among those ports rebound in the...

US-to-Europe traffic accelerates: decline in dollar against euro is affecting air-cargo flows.(AIR CARGO)
April 25, 2005... Bargains for U.S. shippers exporting products by air to Europe are becoming harder to find. Eastbound traffic has been rising in recent months, and airline capacity is tightening. "We're probably close to 20 percent up in growth to...

Carriers expand in Asian market: despite challenges, opportunities for growth are hard to ignore.
April 25, 2005... Airlines are clamoring to get a piece of the booming Asia-Pacific region. Carriers are expanding and. in some cases, creating networks as fast as they can to stake their claim on the world's fastest-growing cargo market. Established...

Kuwaiti firm buys project forwarder: new owner will keep Transoceanic Shipping name.(PWC Logistics)(Gregory Rusovich)(Transoceanic Shipping Company Inc.)
April 25, 2005... Since becoming chief executive of New Orleans-based Transoceanic Shipping Co. in 2003, Gregory Rusovich has made global growth his company's mantra. He sees new growth opportunities now that Transoceanic has been sold to a Kuwaiti company....

Do your homework on trade agreements.(OTHER VOICES)
April 25, 2005... When President Bush signed the Central American Free Trade Agreement last May, it marked the 10th free-trade agreement signed by the current administration and 14th overall for the United States. More are being negotiated, including...

Air cargo.(BY THE NUMBERS)(Brief Article)
April 25, 2005... Traffic and capacity International scheduled services Percent change from same month previous year [GRAPHIC OMITTED] International freight Freight ton-kilometers Percent change by carrier, grouped by carriers' Base of...

Spotlight: U.S. trade with India.(BY THE NUMBERS)(Brief Article)
April 25, 2005... In the last 10 years, U.S. imports from India increased in value by 172 percent, about double the growth of U.S. exports to India. U.S. imports from India increased 19.2 percent in value last year, while the value of U.S. exports rose...

Containerized ocean trade.(BY THE NUMBERS)(Illustration)
April 25, 2005... CONTAINERIZED OCEAN TRADE In TEUs Loaded containers only January-Current month Current Imports month 2005 2004 %...

U.S. foreign trade.(BY THE NUMBERS)(Illustration)
April 25, 2005... U.S. FOREIGN TRADE In millions of dollars, via all modes of transportation to/from the U.S. January-February Imports 2005 2004 % change Total ...

Rail cargo.(BY THE NUMBERS)(Brief Article)(Illustration)
April 25, 2005... RAIL CARGO Weeks 1-14 ending April 9, 2005 Loadings, in Units 2005 2004 % change Intermodal-total 2,995,153 2,786,375 7.5% Trailers ...

JOC-ECRI Industrial Price Index.(Brief Article)
April 25, 2005... The Journal of Commerce--Economic Cycle Research Institute Industrial Price Index (JoC-ECRI IPI) is a leading indicator of inflation rates. The index is based on prices of a broad assortment of raw materials used in industrial production. The...

With Craig Fuller: president of Xpress Global Systems.(Interview)
April 25, 2005... Craig Fuller is a trucking executive who is looking at short-sea shipping with a would-be customers' critical eye. He attended the Maritime Administration's short-sea conference in New York in October 2004, and was a featured speaker at The...

Keep an eye on China.
April 25, 2005... A few notes and thoughts from last week's inaugural JoC China Trade & Logistics conference, which was held in Savannah on April 18-19: I have been a skeptic about China's ability to sustain its logic-defying economic growth--its GDP has...

Paying for port security.(secuities of the seaports)
April 18, 2005... Post-9/11 discussion of seaport security has centered on three recurring questions: What must be done? Who's in charge? And who pays? The first two questions have been at least partially addressed. The short answer to the third, of...

Proposed Mexican terminal wouldn't come cheap.(RADAR SCREEN)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... Marine Terminals Corp. is the second international terminal operator looking to Baja California in Mexico to help the west coast of North America accommodate burgeoning containerized imports from China. Marine Terminals, based in Oakland,...

Railroads pursue expansion of ICTF capacity.(RADAR SCREEN intermodal Container Transfer Facility )(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... Union Pacific Railroad has requested permission to double the capacity of its Intermodal Container Transfer Facility located 4.4 miles from the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex. UP executives told Long Beach port managers the ICTF this...

Stakes are high for new rules on container security.(RADAR SCREEN)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... Chris Koch, president of the World Shipping Council, says U.S. ports will need to watch forthcoming security regulations on container seals and the requirements for verifying seal integrity. While the rule will apply to imported cargo, other...

Looking for leverage on CAFTA.(RADAR SCREEN)(Central American Free Trade Agreement )(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... Proponents of the Central American Free Trade Agreement are leaving no stone unturned as they lobby Congress for CAFTA ratification. Central American diplomats are trying to leverage their traditional ties to Israel and the American Jewish...

APL sees growth in Southeast Asia.(RADAR SCREEN)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... While trade with China continues to be the engine of growth in the business of Neptune Orient Lines as its customers increase their sourcing there, the company is seeing an increased interest in Southeast Asia. In reporting its results for...

NOL profit doubles.(THE WEEK)(Neptune Orient Lines)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... NOL Profit Doubles: Neptune Orient Lines said its net profit last year jumped 119.8 percent to $943 million, fueled by record liner revenue and growth in the company's logistics business. The Singapore-based company, parent of APL Ltd., said...

Intermodal traffic increases 7.6 percent.(THE WEEK)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... Intermodal Traffic increases 7.6 Percent: U.S. railroads reported a 7.6 percent in intermodal traffic during this year's first quarter. The Association of American Railroads said major U.S. carriers handled nearly 2.8 million units of...

CMA CGM Charters Montreal slots.(THE WEEK)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... CMA CGM Charters Montreal Slots: Canada Maritime and Orient Overseas Container Line. partners in the St. Lawrence Coordinated Service between Montreal and North Europe, have agreed to charter slots on their vessels to CMA CGM. The...

Traffic down for European Airlines.(THE WEEK)
April 18, 2005... Traffic Down For European Airlines: Lufthansa Cargo, the world's largest international airfreight operator, said its traffic in March was down 1 percent from a year earlier, as a strong performance in the Americas failed to offset weakness on...

PierPass start to be delayed.(THE WEEK)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... PierPass Start To Be Delayed: Registration will begin in May for shippers wishing to participate in a test of PierPass in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, although full implementation of the program will be delayed till late June or...

Airbus starts construction of A380.(THE WEEK)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... Airbus Starts Construction of A380: Airbus has begun production of its new A380, which will be the world's largest commercial freighter, at Nantes, France. The A380 freighter has a design capacity of 330,000 pounds of cargo and a range of...

TSA's stone to resign.(THE WEEK)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... TSA's Stone To Resign: Transportation Security Administration chief David Stone will leave the job in June, No replacement was announced. Stone, a retired Coast Guard admiral, is the third TSA chief since the agency was created in the...

HACTL reports higher volume.(THE WEEK)(Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Ltd)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... HACTL Reports Higher Volume: Hong Kong's main air-cargo terminal said it handled 3 percent more cargo in the first three months of 2005 as exports rose. Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Ltd. said it handled 532,348 metric tons of cargo in the...

Barge feeder operator named.(THE WEEK)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... Barge Feeder Operator Named: The Bridgeport Port Authority in Connecticut moved its plans for barge service forward with the conditional naming of Bridgeport Barge Service LLC as the terminal operator. The company is operated by David...

Air Cargo Conference planned.(THE WEEK)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... Air Cargo Conference Planned: Commonwealth Business Media's Air Cargo World magazine and Journal of Commerce Conferences Division will sponsor the TransPacific Air Cargo Conference June 6-7 at the Westin Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles....

Safety valve: ports of Seattle and Tacoma prepare to handle a larger share of peak-season cargo.(Cover Story)
April 18, 2005... Until recently, putting together an eastbound intermodal train at the Port of Tacoma was a disjointed, slow process that took most of a day. The belt-line railroad serving the port cobbled together 12 blocks of containers into a single train....

Free ride is ending: terminals, carriers tighten their policies on free time and demurrage.
April 18, 2005... Shippers beware: Marine terminals and carriers are getting serious about reducing the backlog of containers on piers and at inland depots. In the last few weeks, they have announced substantial increases in penalties that customers must pay...

Backlash! U.S. textile and apparel manufacturers may win renewed limits on Chinese imports.(SPECIAL REPORT: CHINA)
April 18, 2005... The optimists about free trade, it turns out, were wrong. Barely three months after World Trade Organization quotas on the textile and apparel trade finally ended, global supply chains are about to be disrupted by WTO-sanctioned restrictions...

Profitable relationship: trade between the mainland and Taiwan continues to grow, despite political friction.
April 18, 2005... Ever so gradually, despite recurrent spates of political rhetoric that sometimes threaten hostilities, globalization is driving Taiwan and China toward economic integration. And like water dissolving to hardest granite outcroppings, the...

Up, up and away: more Chinese exports are moving through mainland ports as carriers avoid costly Hong Kong.
April 18, 2005... The future of China's container ports continues to brighten as investment in manufacturing moves from South China and Hong Kong to China's central and northern regions. However, this rapid development of China's export capacity will...

China: just the facts.
April 18, 2005... Area: Approximately 3.8 million square miles, slightly smaller than the U.S. Coastline: About 9,100 miles. Natural resources: Coal, iron ore, petroleum, natural gas, mercury, tin, tungsten, antimony, manganese, molybdenum, vanadium,...

Hong Kong tries to keep up: manufacturing is moving across the border, but logistics providers appear to be staying put.
April 18, 2005... Just a few years ago, visitors coming into Hong Kong would head straight to the tailors in Kowloon for cut-price suits or the Temple Street night market for counterfeit designer labels. Today, there are still plenty of fake Rolexes available...

IMUA celebrates 75th anniversary: now in its 75th year, the Inland Marine Underwriters Association's membership has grown to more than 400, representing more than 90 percent of all inland marine insurers.(Advertisement)
April 18, 2005... Seventy-five years ago, a group of enthusiastic and dedicated inland marine underwriters formed the Inland Marine Underwriters Association. Though few in number in 1930, the membership has grown to more than 400 today, representing more than...

A proactive approach to marine loss control can help ensure your client's business stays world class.(Advertisement)
April 18, 2005... "If ain't broke, don't fix it!" This seems to be a common attitude among insureds in the marine industry. This is particularly the case for companies that have been successful and have a good loss record. While understandable, it's not...

Thacher Proffitt offers maritime, insurance industry expertise: Thacher Proffitt congratulates the IMUA and its members on the occasion of the Association's 75th Annual Meeting.(Inland Marine Underwriters Association)(Thacher Proffitt & Wood L.L.P.)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... Thacher Proffitt counsels insurers and reinsurers in a wide variety of matters throughout the world. These matters have involved many different types of property and casualty and liability coverages. We have extensive experience in...

Ports and security: Koch says ports and industry haven't been standing still on security improvements.(Christopher Koch )
April 18, 2005... If ports want more federal money for security, they would likely have more success using a laser than a shotgun, according to the president of the World Shipping Council. "In the present budget environment, requests for additional...

What a difference a generation makes.
April 18, 2005... I recently came across a fascinating anecdote about intermodal service that shows how much the business has changed in what, for the railroad industry, is a relatively short time. In January 1968, the former Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe...

3PLs and trade finance: globalization of trade encourages companies to combine finance with supply-chain management.
April 18, 2005... Imagine a day when third-party logistics providers can use a single Web-based application and see all their customers' goods in the supply chain, manage movement of the shipments, and pay all of the service providers that move, store and...

Higher profile for MTS: Cabinet-level involvement could be the key for an upgraded committee on marine transportation.(Marine Transportation System )
April 18, 2005... Imagine this: a government committee that stops talking, and actually starts doing something. That's irony for Washington-bashers, but in this case, the committee members themselves are bullish that a higher status will make it easier to turn...

Hong-Mi-Sing-Sha.
April 18, 2005... Which factors determine "size" in selecting the world's largest port? Different factors and assessment criteria produce different answers. Accordingly, the result could be specified as "HMSS," which in this case does not stand for Her...

With Allen Gant Jr. National Council of Textile Organizations.(QUESTIONS & ANSWERS)(Interview)
April 18, 2005... Allen E. Gant Jr., president and chief executive of Glen Raven Inc., in Glen Raven, N.C., is founder and chairman of the National Council of Textile Organizations, which represents all segments of the U.S. textile industry. Q. Some...

Air cargo.(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... Traffic and capacity International scheduled services Percent change from same month previous year [GRAPHIC OMITTED] International freight Freight ton-kilometers Percent change by carrier, grouped by carriers' base of...

Spotlight: related party U.S. trade.(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... Trade between related parties accounted for $950 billion of U.S. imports and exports of goods, or 42 percent of the total. Related-party trade totaled 48 percent of the value of goods imports, and 31 percent of the value of exports....

JOC-ECRI industrial price index.(BY THE NUMBERS)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... The Journal of Commerce--Economic Cycle Research Institute Industrial Price Index (JoC-ECRI IPI) is a leading indicator of inflation rates. The index is based on prices of a broad assortment of raw materials used in industrial production. The...

Containerized ocean trade.(BY THE NUMBERS)(Illustration)
April 18, 2005... CONTAINERIZED OCEAN TRADE In TEUs Loaded containers only Current Imports month Port of Long Beach Feb Port of Los Angeles ...

U.S. foreign trade.(BY THE NUMBERS)(Illustration)
April 18, 2005... U.S. FOREIGN TRADE In millions of dollars, via all modes of transportation to/from the U.S. January-February Imports 2005 2004 % change Total ...

Rail cargo.(BY THE NUMBERS)(Brief Article)(Illustration)
April 18, 2005... RAIL CARGO Weeks 1-13 ending April 2, 2005 Loadings, in Units 2005 2004 % change Intermodal-total 2,781,254 2,585,045 7.6% Trailers ...

A real debate on the Jones Act.
April 18, 2005... Among its many challenges these days, the U.S. faces a growing problem of freight congestion, as most anyone in the logistics field will attest. One solution would be to shift cargo from overly burdened highways to the nation's abundant river...

Rough ride.(International Brotherhood of Teamsters)
April 11, 2005... They're independent contractors. They're paid by the trip. Many of them are immigrants, primarily Hispanic, and most are barely getting by. The Teamsters union has been attracted to their cause. The description fits port container...

'Seabasing' offers possibilities for short-sea.(RADAR SCREEN)(Brief Article)
April 11, 2005... Adm. Vern Clark, chief of naval operations, has called a conference April 2021 with top maritime industry executives to discuss technology applications for the "Seabasing" initiative that could be good for commercial short-sea shipping....

Pacific Northwest employers prepare for higher volume.(RADAR SCREEN)(Brief Article)
April 11, 2005... With containerized imports through the Pacific Northwest up 48 percent in January and February, waterfront employers are moving quickly to expand the longshore labor force. In the coming weeks, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union...

Don't forget air cargo, forwarders say.(RADAR SCREEN)(Brief Article)
April 11, 2005... Dave Wirsing, executive director of the Airforwarders Association, said that as carriers seek more efficient aircraft, they are turning to narrow-bodied planes and regional jets. That's bad news for cargo customers. That's a concern for some...

Customs union may be in Central America's future.(RADAR SCREEN)(Brief Article)
April 11, 2005... Customs reform is a major topic on the agendas of Central American nations. El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua are proceeding with plans to establish a Central American Customs Union to promote trade and investment throughout...

Shipbuilding prices rise as yards stay busy.(RADAR SCREEN)(Brief Article)
April 11, 2005... Here's the latest on the surge of container ship construction, from BRS-Alphaliner: As of the end of March, 1,142 ships with capacity of 4.39 million TEUs were on order. That represented 58.7 percent of the existing fleet's capacity. With...

Results of the JoC pulse.(RADAR SCREEN)
April 11, 2005... What do railroads need most to boost intermodal service? More track 44% More cars 27% More crew 18% Better pricing 11%