Loggers, Food Exporters Impacted From China's Virus
The economic impact of China's coronavirus lockdown is being felt across the globe, with exporters, miners and manufacturers of everything from coal and timber to meat and fruit facing delays and potential shipment cancellations.As the most populous nation and factory floor for most of the world's manufactured goods, China is normally the largest and most voracious consumer of a slew of global raw materials, fuels and foods.But the combination of an extended Lunar New Year holiday…
Hamburg Süd “Top Ranked Carrier” For Third Time in a Row
Hamburg Süd has been a reliable and efficient partner of US shippers of agricultural and forestry products for many years. For its outstanding performance, it was recently honored as “Top Ranked Carrier” for the third year in a row by the Agriculture Transportation Coalition (AgTC), the largest association of exporters of agricultural and forestry products in the United States. The award ceremony was held in mid-June. “Hamburg Süd won’t become complacent just because of the success it has seen so far,” says Jürgen Pump, Senior Vice President of Hamburg Süd North America, Inc. “We are consistently working to improve the services we offer to meet the industry-specific requirements of our customers. AgTC conducts an annual survey among its member companies to determine the award winners.
AgTC Members Speak Out on SOLAS Amendment
Tomorrow, five prominent members of the Agriculture Transportation Coalition (AgTC) will explain the major detrimental impact that the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Container Weight Documentation Amendment will have on the US agriculture and forest products export industry. The amendment is scheduled to go into effect July 1, 2016. The Agriculture Transportation Coalition's SOLAS Container Weights Working Committee, comprised of U.S. agriculture and forest products exporters and their freight forwarders and trucking companies, has been active on this issue for months, reaching out to the steamship lines, Federal Maritime Commission, U.S. Coast Guard, and Congress to draw attention to the significant problems this amendment poses to the industry.
Farmers Hit by Strife at West Coast Ports
Protracted labor strife and shipping disruptions at U.S. West Coast ports have hit farmers especially hard, posing a major barrier to perishable goods headed to overseas markets and resulting in losses estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars a week. Foreign Pacific Rim customers facing chronic delays in shipments of U.S. food and farm products are turning to other countries for produce ranging from citrus and apples to beef and pork, the Washington-based Agriculture Transportation Coalition (AgTC) has reported. Many frustrated U.S. suppliers are deciding to forgo exports and scrambling instead to find domestic buyers for their produce, driving down prices, said Wendy Fink-Weber, a spokeswoman for the Western Growers trade organization.
