The nation’s busiest container-port complex is showing signs of supply-chain fatigue. Import volumes at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach slumped 14% in December, the WSJ Logistics Report’s Paul Berger writes, even as the lineup of vessels waiting to unload at the gateway stretches to more than 100 ships. Loaded container imports tumbled to the lowest monthly level since June 2020 and fell year-over-year for the fourth straight month. Shipping industry experts say strained handling operations across the region may have hit a wall after running at a breakneck pace since the summer of 2020. The ports also face growing competition as importers look to get around the key supply-chain chokepoint. Container volumes at East Coast ports are growing, and hopes for a fresh start to 2022 for Los Angeles-Long Beach have been met by a new, bigger wave of Covid-19 cases among dockworkers.

The strains in semiconductor supply chains are getting more acute. U.S. manufacturers and other companies are down to less than five days of inventory for key chips, the WSJ’s Josh Zumbrun and Alex Leary report, raising concerns that any disruption in deliveries would rapidly cascade across manufacturing supply chains. The U.S. Commerce Department issued the report based on surveys that showed companies typically maintained 40 days of inventory for key chips in 2019. With inventories now wafer-thin, a closure of a supplier’s overseas factory for more than a few days can cause them to exhaust their stockpile. The report said the lead time for delivery of some chips in particularly short supply has doubled to between 103 and 365 days. The Biden administration is pressing for funds for a plan to increase domestic chip production. But building a factory for the complex electronic products can take years.

The world’s biggest logistics real-estate provider is looking for business beyond simply leasing warehouses. Prologis wants to expand non-real estate services to customers under what it calls its “essentials” business, the WSJ’s Kristin Broughton reports, including the purchase of solar energy from rooftop panels as well as offers for key logistics equipment like forklifts and racking systems. CFO Thomas Olinger expects the business to generate $75 million in revenue in 2022. The effort comes as the core warehousing business is running hot thanks to high demand for distribution centers in a changing supply-chain sector. Overall revenue at Prologis rose 8% last year and occupancy in its global warehouse network reached a record 97.4%. The new services put Prologis in line with other logistics operators that are diversifying operations to get a bigger share of their customers’ spending, and to potentially retain more of their business over time.
 

Canadian National Railway named Tracy Robinson CEO and placed her and another person on the board to avert a proxy fight with an activist investor. (WSJ)

The International Monetary Fund expects chronic supply-chain problems, inflation and the Omicron variant fallout to sharply cut into global economic growth.

The U.S. is prepared to impose sanctions and export controls on critical sectors of the Russian economy if the country invades Ukraine. (WSJ)

General Electric says supply-chain problems cut into its revenue by 3 to 4 percentage points in the fourth quarter. (WSJ)

U.S. regulators are moving to block Lockheed Martin’s $4.4 billion purchase of Aerojet Rocketdyne on antitrust grounds. (WSJ)

General Motors confirmed plans for a multibillion-dollar investment to produce electric pickup trucks in Michigan. (WSJ)

Workers at Kroger’s King Soopers grocery stores ratified a new contract following a nine-day strike in Denver. (WSJ)

Rising N95 mask sales helped deliver higher-than-expected revenue in 3M’s most recent quarter. (WSJ)

Panasonic will start making electric-vehicle batteries for Tesla in Japan after struggling to bring a U.S. plant online. (Nikkei Asia)

Neiman Marcus named Amanda Martin chief supply chain officer as the retailer undertakes a $90 million overhaul of its operations. (Supply Chain Dive)

Walmart is taking an undisclosed equity stake in California-based vertical farming startup Plenty. (CNBC)

The rate of returns for U.S. retailers rose sharply last year to 16.6% of total sales. (DC Velocity)

Cosco Shipping Holdings posted weaker-than expected earnings as container volumes fell sharply in the fourth quarter. (Lloyd’s List)

Singapore-based Eastern Pacific Shipping has barred coal from its commercially-managed bulk carriers. (TradeWinds)

Analyst firm Simpson Spence & Young says pollution from global shipping increased 4.9% and exceeded 2019 levels. (ShippingWatch)

Loaded container imports into Georgia’s Port of Savannah rose 6.1% in December and were up 21.3% for the full year. (Dow Jones Newswires)

Truck drivers are calling for more legal spaces to park overnight so they don’t have to spend valuable time looking for a spot. (Bloomberg)

Paccar’s heavy-duty truck deliveries expanded by 45% for the second straight quarter on what it said is an improving supply chain. (Dow Jones Newswires)

Atlanta-based trucker Ascend acquired South Carolina-based specialist Dedicated Transport Solutions. (Commercial Carrier Journal)

Chemical shippers told rail regulators that they are seeing longer delays and deteriorating railroad service. (Trains)

Some aggregators of Amazon third-party merchants are acquiring brands that have deals with brick-and-mortar retailers. (Modern Retail)

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

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