Supply Chain Strategist | Jul. 21, 2022

From Lowest Price to Least Risky: Freight rates clearly have hit a ceiling; Materials prices dip; EU signs deals for oil imports;

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The party could be winding down for freight rates as consumer demand reverses course – going from surge to slow down.

LOGISTICS

37.8% of boxship fleet capacity is at port, driving container port congestion, according to UK broker Clarkson.

Nearly 30,000 rail containers are delayed at the port of Los Angeles docks alone, with rail-bound cargo sitting for an average of 7.5 days, per Sea-Intelligence.

German ports of Hamburg and Bremerhaven are paralysed by port worker strikes, per a Sea-Intelligence advisory. Dockworkers have also voted to strike at the UK’s Liverpool port.

Air freight rates dropped in June compared to May but are still above 2021 levels due to the surge in oil prices and the increase in operating costs, according to UPS.

Eight major ports in China registered a 6.3% year-over-year increase in TEU volume in June 2022 despite supply chain disruptions and Covid-19 lockdowns. Volume increases could signal more congestion, per UPS.

ENERGY

The EU signed a memorandum of understanding with Azerbaijan to double gas imports from Baku. Other deals are in progress to shore shortages driven by the Russia-Ukraine war.

PODCAST

The Next Big Thing in EV Battery Technology (this could change everything!)

One of the biggest challenges that is standing in the way of greener energy is finding ways to store that energy.

This is particularly true for electric vehicles, as well as other sectors.

The solution is the development of batteries with greater storage capacity. The challenge is creating these batteries – in a way that is sustainable and affordable.

In this podcast I’m speaking with John Cooley, chief of products at Nanoramic Laboratories, a company he co-founded, and that has developed ground breaking technology that could provide the energy storage devices that will make renewable energy more mainstream.

In this podcast Dr. Cooley talks about:

The biggest challenges facing the EV battery industry.
What is Neocarbonix at the Core and what sets it apart from other Li-ion battery technology?
What could be the next big thing in green energy.

🎧 Listen to the podcast

SUPPLY CHAIN STRATEGY

From Lowest Price to Least Risky

If there’s anything takeaways from the past two and half years it’s that nothing is too far out to be considered ‘impossible.’

Securing raw materials from suppliers was seen as a key risk by 64 percent of executives, while 62 percent said insufficient diversification of supplier base for critical supplies was a top risk that they were addressing, according to a PwC survey.

Further, brands and suppliers are facing the need for greater working capital as costs continue to rise. Read More

SUSTAINABILITY

Developing Exclusive Products with Low MOQs

Most brands are looking for newness, but also want the flexibility of placing smaller orders. Boonchuay Industrial (Thailand) is able to deliver on both through its creative mixing and matching of various fibers with cotton yarns.

The company can then utilize their weaving, dyeing and finishing capacity to develop special products that won’t be found anywhere else. Read more

SUSTAINABILITY

Epic Group (Hong Kong) has partnered with CleanKore to use its patented technology, which changes the chemistry and the process used to dyeing yarns at the denim mills by keeping intact the white core of the yarn and only dyeing the surface.

This technology significantly reduces water, chemicals and process time in the denim garment finishing stage. Read More

MATERIALS

The prices of more than 100 chemical products have continued to decline recently, which is inseparable from the decline in crude oil prices caused by geopolitical conflicts, and is also closely related to external economic changes, according to Echemi.com.