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C.H. Robinson’s Freight Squeeze; Long Game for Solar Supply Chains

By Paul Page

 

C.H. Robinson is by far the nation’s biggest operator by revenue in the middleman business of matching shippers with available trucks. PHOTO; GEORGE FREY/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Dave Bozeman is getting back into the freight business facing pressure from a troubled shipping market on one side and an activist investor on the other. C.H. Robinson Worldwide is tapping the former Ford and Amazon executive as its chief executive, the WSJ Logistics Report’s Paul Berger writes, handing him the reins of the largest freight broker in the U.S. at a tough moment both in the shipping world and internally. The company has been slashing its workforce amid contracting demand that sent revenue down some 32% in the first quarter. Investment group Ancora Holdings had been pushing for another candidate as CEO, and wants Robinson to shed its international freight forwarding unit. Bozeman says he’ll study that issue as he looks “at all aspects of the business.” For now, C.H. Robinson’s fate will depend on how well the company can match its own scale to a faltering market.

  • Old Dominion Freight Line’s revenue per day fell 15.7% in May as daily less-than-truckload shipments dropped 11.4% from a year ago. (Logistics Management)
  • XPO says about half the trucker’s industrial customers project “modestly stronger demand” in the second half of the year. (Dow Jones Newswires)
  • Freight services operator STG Logistics acquired Chicago-area-based Best Dedicated Solutions. (Commercial Carrier Journal)
 
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Supply Chain Strategies

An engineer at work in CubicPV’s pilot facility. PHOTO: KAYANA SZYMCZAK FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

If you wonder how long it will take to build a U.S. solar-power supply chain to rival China, CubicPV has some thoughts. The startup has tried and failed for 15 years to build a solar-component factory. Now, the WSJ’s Phred Dvorak reports, the maker of the key parts called silicon wafers believes massive green subsidies will help it finally get a foothold in a market dominated by China. CubicPV still faces a long road, but the success of companies like this one will go a long way toward determining the direction of U.S. production and whether President Biden’s signature climate legislation can reduce U.S. dependence on Chinese clean-energy manufacturing. CubicPV’s wafer factory is one of 50-odd solar-manufacturing projects that have been announced over the past couple of years. Still, for its first factory, CubicPV is dropping its proprietary wafer-making technique for mainstream processes that use Chinese equipment.

  • A developer is dropping plans for a giant offshore wind farm off Massachusetts, citing significant cost increases. (Boston Globe)
  • A satellite beamed solar power from space to the Earth in a first-of-its-kind demonstration. (Science)
 
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Quotable

“Until we see positive economic data out of China, you can be dreaming about higher oil prices but I don’t think you are going to see higher oil prices.”

— Homayoun Falakshahi, senior oil analyst at Kpler, on an underwhelming market response to Saudi Arabia’s production cuts.
 
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Number of the Day

47.3

The Logistics Managers’ Index for May, down 3.7 percentage points from April to the lowest point in the 6½-year history of the measure of logistics-sector activity in the U.S.

 

In Other News

China’s exports fell 7.5% in May in the first decline in three months. (WSJ)

The destruction of a major dam in Ukraine sent prices of grains and other produce higher around the world. (WSJ)

The World Bank upgraded its forecast for global economic growth​ this year. (WSJ)

The Energy Information Administration expects U.S. oil production to hit a record high next year. (MarketWatch)

Boeing found a new production flaw in its 787 Dreamliner that will delay deliveries of the passenger jet. (WSJ)

Bed Bath & Beyond is in talks to keep its Buybuy Baby chain open through a sale to the owner of children’s apparel retailer Janie and Jack. (WSJ)

RV-maker Thor Industries says retail sales are beginning to recover as dealerships tempt buyers with discounts. (WSJ) 

Panasonic is expanding production of electric vehicle batteries at a factory in Nevada jointly operated with Tesla. (Nikkei Asia)

Unionized dockworkers at the Canadian ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert are threatening to strike this week amid ongoing contract talks. (Journal of Commerce)

Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz says global shipping demand is likely to decline over the long term. (Lloyd’s List)

The International Air Transport Association expects global air cargo revenues to fall 31.1% this year, a sharp downgrade from an April projection. (Air Cargo News)

Union Pacific agreed to paid sick leave terms for its approximately 5,600 locomotive engineers. (Railway Age)

Kuehne + Nagel International acquired South African perishables forwarding specialist Morgan Cargo. (Seatrade Maritime)

Singapore-based GLP raised $260 million of fresh capital to help fund logistics property acquisitions in China. (South China Morning Post)

Startup raised Curri $42 million in a Series B funding round supporting its efforts to build a logistics platform for the construction sector. (TechCrunch)

 

About Us

Paul Page is editor of WSJ Logistics Report. Reach him at paul.page@wsj.com.

Follow the WSJ Logistics Report team: @PaulPage, @bylizyoung and @pdberger. Follow the WSJ Logistics Report on Twitter at @WSJLogistics.

 
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