Freight shipments slowed to only a 1.4 percent rise in March, following an 8.3 percent jump in February. Expenditures for freight declined 1.0 percent in March—reversing a portion of the 6.3 percent increase in February. Manufacturing and building construction have been on an upward trend and have just started showing up in the supply chain.
News
“The U.S. LEI increased slightly in February, after back-to-back monthly declines, but housing permits, stock prices, consumer expectations, and new orders remain sources of weakness,” said Ataman Ozyildirim, Director of Business Cycles and Growth Research at The Conference Board. “Although the LEI’s six-month growth rate has moderated considerably in recent months, the outlook remains positive with little chance of a downturn in the near-term.”
SOLAS
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) amended the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Convention to require shippers to provide the Verified Gross Mass (“VGM”) of containers carrying cargo before those containers can be loaded aboard a vessel. Without a VGM, the amendments also prohibit the vessel operator from loading a packed container. The SOLAS amendments are effective July 1, 2016; are not expected to be postponed; and, are globally binding – all Countries party to the convention have undertaken to implement amendments. There is no exception to this requirement. If the acceptable VGM documentation is not timely provided by the shipper, that container will not be loaded on board the vessel. As your NVOCC or Freight Forwarder, MIQ will require from your or your supplier the following data:
United States-bound import volumes appear to be taking steps to more normalized seasonal patterns, according to the most recent edition of the Port Tracker report issued today by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and maritime consultancy Hackett Associates.
International Trade & Supply Chain Cost Savings: What’s Here, What’s Not and What’s on the Horizon
Please join MIQ Logistics and Husch Blackwell on July 13 in St. Louis for an afternoon seminar focused on issues in U.S. international trade policy. This seminar will offer practical knowledge and insight into free trade agreements and legislation affecting the import and export of goods for U.S. companies, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015, and the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill.
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 215,000 in March, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 5.0 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment increased in retail trade, construction, and health care. Job losses occurred in manufacturing and mining.
Institute for Supply Management
Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in March for the first time in the last six months, while the overall economy grew for the 82nd consecutive month, say the nation’s supply executives in the latest Manufacturing ISM® Report On Business®.
American Trucking Associations
American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index jumped 7.2% in February, following a revised 0.3% reduction during January. In February, the index equaled 144 (2000=100), up from 134.3 in January. February’s level is an all-time high.
On Sept 4th – 6th, the city of Hangzhou, Zhejiang will host the 11th G-20 meeting; the first ever G-20 to be held in China. Fashion brands, retailers and other importers are facing the potential of a supply chain disruption, as Shanghai factories prepare for partial and complete closure in advance of the summit which will be located nearest to China’s largest city.
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