MisterTrade

Smooth sailing for Christmas?0

Here’s the first paragraph from a story in eCargonewsAsia:

Shipper apprehension over possible congestion at major U.S. seaports has been assuaged by a recent trade report. “The system is handling volumes that have never been seen before, thanks mainly to continued growth in the demand for Asian imports,” Global Insight economist Paul Bingham said.

Check out the article at: http://www.cargonewsasia.com/ecna/preview.aspx?article=3109
 

Posted: International trade, Import Export Statistics, China, Los Angeles, Savannah, Japan, Manufacturing, Maritime

Fighting’s tough but Afghan trade is way up0

We just filed this story on our web site:

As U.S. troops continue fighting in Afghanistan in an attempt to beat back a resurgent Taliban and track down Osama bin Laden, the Central Asian nation’s appetite for U.S. exports is nevertheless at an all-time high.

More

Posted: International trade, Import Export Statistics, Trade Deficit, Miami, New York, Manufacturing

China’s flower industry0

The fresh-cut rose importing business has long been a Miami story, with Colombia and Ecuador being the providers.

Recently, our company, WorldCity, focused one of its monthly Connections events on Africa, and learned of Africa’s increased interest in the fresh-cut flower business, something that we had written about in an earlier issue of WorldCity. Now, according to a New York Times story, China wants in on the act as well. (We had also reported on China’s nascent flower industry in that same article.)

Here’s a link to the New York Times story.

The basic points were that the industry, being developed in impoverished southwestern China, was being supported heavily from Beijing, with loans and infrastructure imporovements, and that China, not suprisingly, can undercut the cost on the global market significantly. In addition, the area where the industry is being developed is an entry point for heroin from Myanmar, and there is fear of Islamic fundamentalists becoming influential there as well.

Roses fly better than most flowers — carnations cannot be packed as tightly, for example — but do have a limited life. The most likely entry point is Los Angeles.

“Our plan is to become the biggest flower producer and exporter in Asia in 10 to 15 years,” and possibly the world’s largest after the Netherlands, the deputy chief of the Flower Association, a provincial government agency, told the New York Times.

Posted: International trade, Import Export Statistics, China, Los Angeles, Miami, Airlines, Air cargo, Flowers

Ethanol & oil: Where terror policy falls down0

Here is from New York Times columnist Thomas “The World is Flat” Friedman’s column:

Thanks to pressure from Midwest farmers and agribusinesses, who want to protect the U.S. corn ethanol industry from competition from Brazilian sugar ethanol, we have imposed a stiff tariff to keep it out.

“We do this even though Brazilian sugar ethanol provides eight times the energy of the fossil fuel used to make it, while American corn ethanol provides only 1.3 times the energy of the fossil fuel used to make it. We do this even though sugar ethanol reduces greenhouses gases more than corn ethanol.

“And we do this even though sugar cane ethanol can easily be grown in poor tropical countries in Africa or the Caribbean, and could actually help alleviate their poverty.

“Yes, you read all this right. We tax imported sugar ethanol, which could finance our poor friends, but we don’t tax imported crude oil, which definitely finances our rich enemies. We’d rather power anti-Americans with our energy purchases than promote anti-poverty.”

If you have access to Friedman’s columns, you might want to read this one. The Times now requires you pay for access to his columns on-line.

Bottom line: It’s time to line up our trade and terrorism polciies.

Posted: International trade, Oil, Brazil

Good for global trade perhaps but …0

According to a story in the Washington Post, more than 1,100 laptop computers have vanished from the Department of Commerce since 2001, including nearly 250 from the Census Bureau containing such personal information as names, incomes and Social Security numbers. Check it out.

Most of the laptop computers in this country come from Malaysia, China, Taiwan and elsewhere, as you can see in WorldCity reporting of trade statistics.

Posted: International trade, Import Export Statistics, China, Manufacturing, Computers, Technology

U.S. Chamber weighs in on trade benefits0

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has produced an interesting report about the benefits of international trade to the U.S. business and consumer — everything from price reductions on goods we buy to job creation from increased imports.

“The facts will show,” the chamber’s president and CEO Thomas Donohue writes in an introduction, ”that while some are hurt and should be helped, the overwhelming majority of Americans derive great benefits from global engagement.”

You can take a look at it or download it by clicking here.

Posted: International trade, Import Export Statistics, Trade Deficit, China, Mexico, Manufacturing, Maritime

Panama Canal: To widen or not to widen0

If you’re interested in the Panama Cancel, there’s a story worth reading in the New York Times this morning on the proposed widening of the canal, which goes before a referendum next month.

If that referendum fails to pass, the implications are signficant for the global economy. The problem, of course, is that the newer ships — so called post-Panamax — can’t make it through. And bigger ships are on the way.

The Suez Canal is a widely used option for east-west trade but why I am slightly less than comfortable relying on a canal in the Middle East?

Posted: International trade, China, Miami, Manufacturing, Maritime

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas …0

Traffic is up at nation’s seaports for a host of reasons but one, apparently, is because the Christmas holiday season is starting a couple of months earlier, at least for the Asian manufacturers, shipping lines and U.S. seaports.

That’s one of a number of responses to avoid strains on the system like those that surfaced during the 2004 holiday season, according to an article in dcvelocity. Others include longer hours, shifting to other seaports and improving turnaround times.

One way shippers have dealt with the threat of congestion is to begin bringing their imports into the country earlier in the season,” the publicaiton reported, based on comments from Paul Bingham, a principal at consulting firm Global Insight who specializes in global trade. That trend was reflected in the most recent Port Tracker report, which predicted that August volumes would match a typical October, normally the peak shipping month of the year.  

Posted: International trade, China, Los Angeles, Manufacturing

People are precious but cargo is too0

UPS, like FedEx, appears to be putting contentious negotiations with pilots behind it. Pilots at both airlines are apparently getting nice bumps in pay and total benefits, particularly when compared to their brethren who fly people for a living.

According to a Financial Times story, average pay for UPS pilots, who are among the highest paid in the industry, is $175,000. Think about that the next time you complain about only getting peanuts and a soft drink on your passenger flight. Your pilot might be thinking moving boxes offers far fewer headaches.

The story goes on to say that the gap between cargo piliots and passenger pilots is increasingly narrow. The passenger side of the business has been struggling for years, and pilots have been laid off and asked to take pay cuts.

UPS has been negotiating for four years. FedEx announced only about a week ago that it had apparently reached accord with its pilots after a couple of years of talks.

What’s behind it all: global trade is big business. U.S. trade alone last year totaled more than $2.7 trillion.

Posted: International trade, Airlines, Business Travel, Air cargo, UPS, FedEx

Zippo complains of Chinese knockoffs…0

Everyone knows the distintive shape of the Zippo lighter. In fact, four years ago, Zippo went so far as to trademark its design. Now it wants the International Trade Commission to help it fight knockoffs, which the company says “consume” 30 percent of its market. In its filing with the ITC, it points the finger at Chinese companies and U.S. distributors. Zippo, which was founded in 1932, in the early years of the U.S. Depression, sells more than 12 million lighters a year, and even claims a fan base that makes collectibles of them.