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Truckers Seek a Charge; Pork Prices Roasted; Pacific Supply Chain Pact

By Paul Page

 

A BYD electric yard truck at the Frito-Lay manufacturing facility in Modesto, Calif. PHOTO: BENJAMIN FANJOY/BLOOMBERG NEWS

California’s new truck emissions regulations are triggering something of a gold rush for electric-vehicle charging stations. Several startups are pulling together hundreds of millions of dollars to secure land, strike agreements and install the equipment needed to keep electric heavy-duty trucks on the road. The WSJ Logistics Report’s Paul Berger reports some of the companies are even testing new business models by ordering the trucks and leasing them to operators in a bid to jump-start demand. Companies including TeraWatt, Forum Mobility and WattEV face a daunting task building charging infrastructure to support a state goal of replacing more than 30,000 diesel-powered trucks with clean-energy vehicles by 2035. The effort is likely to upend the economics of truck transport in the state. Critics say the power-up sites simply can’t be built fast enough to meet California’s ambitious goal but the startups are trying to get around the roadblocks.

  • Tesla is opening some of its fast-charging network to Ford customers in the U.S. and Canada. (WSJ)
  • Nikola says Nasdaq gave the electric-truck maker a delisting notice for not meeting its minimum share price requirements. (Reuters) 
  • Hyundai Motor and LG Energy Solution will build a $4.3 billion battery factory in Georgia to supply Hyundai's electric vehicles in the U.S. (Nikkei Asia)
 
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Commodities

U.S. pork export volumes fell 10% in 2022, as China began rebuilding its hog population. PHOTO: BEN BREWER/REUTERS

The $54 billion U.S. pork industry is being whipsawed by supply and demand forces. Years of rapid expansion have left the sector oversupplied as demand is waning, costs are rising and new regulations are looming. The WSJ’s Patrick Thomas reports hog farmers are being squeezed and some are even being driven out of business as they lose money at the worst rate in decades. The impact is cascading through supply chains, as businesses from hog farms to processing plants scale back operations and meatpacking companies including Smithfield Foods, Tyson Foods and JBS wrestle with shrinking profits. The turbulence is the result of rapid changes in markets. Booming overseas demand led many producers to expand operations, particularly after hog herds in China were devastated by African swine fever. Trade wars cut into that business, and more recently the strong U.S. dollar has made U.S. pork more expensive abroad.

 
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Quotable

“Nobody is going to tell you my dream job is to work on the ramp under an aircraft.”

— Hassan El-Houry, chairman of airport services firm Menzies Aviation, on difficulty recruiting workers.
 

Economy & Trade

Port Botany in Sydney, Australia. PHOTO: DAVID GRAY/BLOOMBERG NEWS

A new agreement between the U.S. and 13 other Asia-Pacific nations is aimed at moving supply chains away from dependence on China. The accord was reached in meetings over the weekend of the U.S-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, and delivers an early win in a new U.S.-led initiative to strengthen economic ties in a region critical to trade in electronics and consumer goods. The WSJ’s Yuka Hayashi reports the supply-chain agreement is part of the Biden administration’s effort to forge stronger manufacturing and trading links among friendly nations. One key element is a mechanism to prevent and respond to emergencies similar to the semiconductor shortages that arose during the Covid-19 pandemic. The framework still faces skepticism, with U.S. lawmakers and policy makers worried about trade’s impact on American jobs and leaders in Asia concerned about the impact on their own labor forces.

  • U.S. goods imports rose 1.8% from March to April while exports tumbled 5.5%. (MarketWatch)
  • The European Union faces big hurdles in finalizing a long-delayed trade pact with Latin America’s Mercosur bloc. (Associated Press)
 

Economy & Trade

Cargo containers at Hong Kong International Airport: PHOTO: LAM YIK/BLOOMBERG NEWS

There’s nothing minimal about an apparent loophole in U.S. efforts to stop imports from China of products made with forced labor. Some 446 million packages from China entered the U.S. in the 2021 fiscal year as “de minimis” imports, meaning they were valued at less than $800 apiece and so paid no tariffs and required little paperwork. The WSJ’s Josh Zumbrun reports the category has emerged as a gap in efforts to halt imports made with forced labor in China’s Xinjiang province, the home of the minority Uyghur people. It has led to moves in Congress to close what many lawmakers consider a loophole, potentially adding new trade compliance requirements for the shipments. The concerns have grown as trans-Pacific e-commerce trade has expanded. China’s Shein and Temu sell primarily online and their trendy, low-cost apparel is often shipped directly to U.S. customers under the de minimis category.

 
 
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Number of the Day

-1.32

The New York Fed’s Global Supply Chain Pressure Index for April, down from -1.15 the month before, in a sign of easing pressure and the second-lowest level in the 25-year history of the measure.

 

In Other News

U.S. consumer spending jumped 0.8% in April after two months of weak expansion. (WSJ)

Orders for U.S. manufactured goods jumped 1.1% in April while business investment rose sharply. (MarketWatch) 

China’s homegrown C919 passenger jet made its long-awaited first commercial flight. (WSJ)

Big Lots closed all four of its forward distribution centers last quarter as sales fell a steeper-than-expected 18%. (WSJ)

Commodities trader Glencore in talks to merge its agriculture division with Bunge. (The Globe and Mail)

Nike CFO Matthew Friend will take over procurement oversight, including demand and supply management, as part of a broader executive shuffle. (Supply Chain Dive)

Vessels linked to Gatik Ship Management shifted to new companies after Lloyd’s Register became the latest firm to withdraw certification. (TradeWinds)

CMA CGM expects the slump in container shipping demand to last throughout this year. (Lloyd’s List)

Taiwanese carrier Yang Ming plans to invest in port terminals and yards as growing overcapacity hurts container shipping earnings. (The Loadstar)

Schedule reliability for container lines is improving markedly as shipping demand recedes. (Journal of Commerce)

Dry-bulk and product tanker operator Norden bought Danish general cargo carrier Thorco Projects. (Splash 247)

Freight forwarder Geodis acquired Florida-based port trucking specialist Southern Cos. (Supply Chain Quarterly)

U.K. retailer Marks and Spencer is making modernizing its supply chain a key goal over the next year. (Logistics Manager)

Cargo crime prevention firm CargoNet says supply chain fraud and theft have accelerated rapidly this year. (DC Velocity)

 

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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