Logistics Management - June 2010

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continued
1 percent to 2 percent growth in material handling
shipments this year. The MHEM defines
new orders as orders placed during the year for
new materials handling equipment. Shipments
are based on when that equipment is manufactured
and shipped to the customer. This projection
follows a dismal 2009, which saw orders
and shipments contract 37.4 percent and 34.4
percent, respectively.
n First step toward Customs reauthorization
bill. Leaders of the House Ways and Means
trade subcommittee were upbeat last month
about redirecting Customs and Border Protection’s
focus to facilitating trade and collecting
revenue after a hearing in which government
officials and members of the trade community
presented a range of ideas to match the movement
of commerce to security needs. Acting
Subcommittee Chairman John Tanner, D-Tenn.,
and ranking member Kevn Brady, R-Texas, told
trade witnesses that the hearing was a good
first step toward a Customs reauthorization
bill that they expect to introduce before the
end of the year. Tanner and Brady said Customs’
efforts in supply chain security since the
September 2001 terrorist attacks had moved
resources away from the agency’s revenue
functions that are part of Ways and Means oversight
activities.
n Financial woes still plaguing USPS. The ongoing
troubles plaguing the United States Postal
Service (USPS) show few signs of abating
any time soon. The USPS said last month it
will post a net loss of $1.9 billion on declining
volumes of 88.1 billion pieces of mail for
the six months ended March 31, 2010. For the
three months ending March 31, USPS volume
was down 3.3 percent year-over-year and total
revenue, at $16.7 billion, was down 1.4 percent.
A large amount of these losses are due to
declines in First Class Mail revenue and subsequent
volume declines. But its shipping services,
mainly Express Mail and Priority Mail,
which are considered competitive products
and represent 12 percent of total revenues,
grew 5.7 percent.
n GPA boasts monthly throughput increase.
Georgia Ports Authority’s (GPA) Executive
Director Curtis Foltz announced last month that
the GPA experienced 25.6 percent container
growth in April and has recorded five consecutive
months of double-digit growth through its
ports. Overall tonnage for April 2010 saw gains
of 16.4 percent, which brings the GPA’s fiscal
year-to-date (July 2009 through April 2010)
volume to a 6-percent increase compared with
the same time period last year. Export containers
continued to lead the recovery, posting a
30.4-percent increase. “A relatively weak U.S.
currency and strong foreign demand for our
commodity groups are expected to continue,”
said Foltz. “Trade projections remain optimistic
with growing economic demand replacing the
recent increase caused by inventory replenishment.”
n More vessels calling West Coast. Hyundai Merchant
Marine Co. Ltd. (HMM) brought back its
weekly container shipping service, the Pacific
Southwest (PSW) last month. The return of
this U.S. West Coast service is in line with
the expected growth of 2010 trade volume for
Northeast Asia. The PSW directly connects
Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and South China
to the ports of Oakland and Long Beach, Calif.
Asian imports are carried on the PSW with
competitive transit times, such as 10 days from
Busan, Korea, to Long Beach. The PSW currently
offers the industry’s fastest transit times
from Long Beach to Xiamen at only 17 days.
This HMM service also provides the current
quickest times from Oakland to the ports of
Busan, Kaohsiung and Xiamen at 11, 14 and 15
days, respectively. “Last year was a challenge
to the shipping industry,” said Y.I. Song, HMM
chairman and CEO. “Nevertheless, we are looking
forward into 2010 with optimistic planning
and forecast in growth.”
n Good news for outbound. U.S. exports of goods
and services increased by 16.7 percent during
the first quarter of 2010, putting the country on
track to meet President Obama’s goal of doubling
exports and supporting 2 million Americontinued,
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2 Logistics Management WWW.LOGISTICSMGMT.COM | June 2010