Today's Top Supply Chain and Logistics News From WSJ
January 10 2017 - 6:18AM
Dow Jones News
By Paul Page
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The messy breakup of Hanjin Shipping Co. isn't getting any
cleaner. The bankrupt container shipping line's U.S. creditors are
fighting Hanjin's plans to sell its stake in the port operator that
runs the largest terminal at California's Port of Long Beach, the
WSJ's Tom Corrigan reports. The request at a court in Newark, N.J.,
where Hanjin's U.S. bankruptcy proceeding is unfolding, adds new
complications to the messy unraveling of the business that began
when the South Korean operator abruptly filed for receivership in
late August. Mediterranean Shipping Co. has offered $78 million for
Hanjin's controlling stake in Total Terminals International LLC.
But creditors -- including container lessors, insurance providers
and the Port of Seattle -- say Hanjin's stake is worth more and
want a judge to throw out, delay or modify the proposed sale. The
demand suggests there will be continuing challenges to efforts to
dissolve the business as companies left in Hanjin's wake try to
recover more of their losses.
Self-driving car technology is upending the market for auto
parts suppliers. Suppliers from longtime auto-parts powerhouses
such as Delphi Automotive PLC to chip makers like Nvidia Corp. are
vying to become sellers of something more than commodity parts, the
WSJ's Tim Higgins reports, as the companies look at their business
models as intensely as they research the new technology. Car
companies showcasing their futuristic plans at the North American
International Auto Show this week are weighing how much of the
vehicles they can own themselves, and how much they will need to
rely on a widening group of auto suppliers and tech companies.
Meantime, consulting firm AlixPartners estimates the market for the
systems used in autonomous vehicles could reach $20 billion by
2020. That's pushing suppliers to line up a series of big-money
deals that promise to overhaul auto manufacturing supply chains,
with the companies moving to make cars smart in the driver's
seat.
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. has a new fan of the Chinese
e-commerce giant's expansion plans . President-elect Donald Trump
praised the company and its bid to lure small and medium-size U.S.
companies onto its marketplace after a meeting with Alibaba
Executive Chairman Jack Ma, the WSJ's Ryan Knutson and Laura
Stevens report, a strategy Mr. Ma says will open China to more U.S.
exporters. Open trade between the U.S. and China is critical to
Alibaba's success, especially as the company presses expansion
through cross-border sales. Alibaba has mostly recruited bigger
U.S. retailers and brands to sell on its site, but Jim Tompkins,
chief executive of supply chain consultancy Tompkins International,
notes it has failed to add many smaller sellers outside China. Any
inroads it makes could come at the expense of U.S. companies
including eBay Inc. and, to a lesser extent, Amazon.com Inc. But
the company's interest in U.S. exporters could provide a lever for
a larger trade deal, one that could give China's exporters more
access to American markets.
ECONOMY & TRADE
An icon of direct consumer sales is straining to meet changes in
retail competition in the era of e-commerce. After years of
shrugging off competition from traditional and online retailers,
QVC Inc. is seeing cracks emerge in its business model, the WSJ's
Paul Ziobro reports, with sales falling for the first time in seven
years heading into the crucial holiday period. The troubles at the
home-shopping channel highlight the enormous impact online sales
have had on the retail world, in this case hitting a business that
faces little of the inventory and cost concerns that occupy
brick-and-mortar store owners. But e-commerce, including the
round-the-clock availability of goods online, competes for consumer
attention and spending. QVC is responding by building up its own
online exposure and the logistics to go with the strategy.
While battle lines are being set in Washington over protections
against foreign imports, paper mills in Maine are still coping with
the negative impact of efforts to fend off cross-border
competition. An import tariff the U.S. slapped on a type of
magazine paper made in Canada in 2015 triggered a cascade of
unintended consequences, the WSJ's Jennifer Levitz reports, hurting
U.S. operations of some Canadian paper mills and firing up a trade
dispute with Canada. Imports are on the agenda as the Donald Trump
administration prepares to take office with an agenda to jumpstart
U.S. manufacturing. Still, Maine's push to penalize Canadian paper
products illustrates how the desired aims of import tariffs to
protect U.S. manufacturing and jobs may not always be achieved --
especially for industries with deteriorating markets and
economics.
QUOTABLE
IN OTHER NEWS
United Parcel Service Inc. acquired U.K. freight broker
Freightex and will merge the business with its Coyote Logistics
acquisition. (Lloyd's Loading List)
General Motors Co. won't move small-car production to the U.S.
from Mexico in the wake of Mr. Trump's criticism of the auto
maker's imports. (WSJ)
Waymo LLC, a unit of Alphabet Inc., created its own sensor
package, suggesting the company plans to supply both the software
and hardware for autonomous vehicles. (WSJ)
Sales of Volkswagen AG passenger cars rose 2.8% in December on
strong growth in China despite the company's emissions-cheating
scandal. (WSJ)
Honda Motor Co. Ltd. will invest more than $302.5 million at its
plant outside Toronto, with the Canadian and Ontario governments
kicking in additional cash. (WSJ)
Mars, Inc. is buying pet health-care provider VCA Inc. for about
$7.7 billion. (WSJ)
Amazon expanded its use of robots in fulfillment centers by 50%
over the past year. (Seattle Times)
Amazon won a patent to transport goods through a network of
tunnels. (Newsweek)
The Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority is poised to give Mancon
Inc. a $28 million contract to run its troubled warehouse and
inventory system. (Boston Herald)
South Korean ship builder Hyundai Heavy Industries will close
its Gunsan shipyard as part of its business restructuring. (Splash
24/7)
Business in maritime's car-carrier sector remains behind the
levels reached before the financial crisis, according to Clarksons
Research. (Automotive Logistics)
India's government wants to develop a community-wide air cargo
information system to improve the efficiency of processing
airfreight shipments. (Air Cargo News)
Allentown, Pa.-based Air Products & Chemicals Inc. made an
offer to buy China's biggest producer of industrial gases, Yingde
Gases Group Co. (Bloomberg)
ABOUT US
Paul Page is deputy editor of WSJ Logistics Report. Follow him
at @PaulPage, and follow the entire WSJ Logistics Report team:
@brianjbaskin, @jensmithWSJ and @EEPhillips_WSJ and follow the WSJ
Logistics Report on Twitter at @WSJLogistics.
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Write to Paul Page at paul.page@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 10, 2017 07:03 ET (12:03 GMT)
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