<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Kansas City Southern had predicted for months that finances for the rail company would improve after it wrapped up a costly track project near Houston and issued more stock.</div>

Kansas City Southern had predicted for months that finances for the rail company would improve after it wrapped up a costly track project near Houston and issued more stock.

<div>Kansas City Southern had predicted for months that finances for the rail company would improve after it wrapped up a costly track project near Houston and issued more stock. Now, a major credit agency is backing that view and upgrading its outlook for KCS.Standard &amp; Poor's Ratings Services revised its outlook to stable from negative, saying the change &amp;ldquo;reflects our expectation that liquidity and credit metrics will improve over the next few quarters in response to meaningful cost reductions, modest pricing gains, and stabilizing volumes.&amp;rdquo;The smallest of the Class I carriers operates two sizable rail units in the United States...

Kansas City Southern had predicted for months that finances for the rail company would improve after it wrapped up a costly track project near Houston and issued more stock. Now, a major credit agency is backing that view and upgrading its outlook for KCS. Standard & Poor's Ratings Services revised its outlook to stable from negative, saying the change &ldquo;reflects our expectation that liquidity and credit metrics will improve over the next few quarters in response to meaningful cost reductions, modest pricing gains, and stabilizing volumes.&rdquo; The smallest of the Class I carriers operates two sizable rail units in the United States and Mexico and previously said that opening a new track segment in Texas was a key to boosting freight traffic linking both those operations. When it opened the new Victoria-Rosenberg segment in June, KCS could quit shelling out construction costs that totaled $174 million. It also began to save more than $1 million monthly in track-use fees it paid around that zone to Union Pacific Railroad, and could boost revenue business for that corridor. It also caught S&P&rsquo;s eye with a new issuance of 4.3 million stock shares that raised a net $74 million. The agency affirmed its previous &ldquo;B&rdquo; rating for long-term KCS debt, and said the better outlook for the rail firm &ldquo;reflects KCS' improved liquidity position following an equity issuance, diminishing capital-spending needs, and modest debt maturities over the next few years.&rdquo; S&P said the recessionary decline in freight volumes for KCS &ndash; a situation shared by other railroads &ndash; should moderate in coming months, and &ldquo;we expect capital expenditures to be moderate for the duration of the year, at about $100 million.&rdquo; But it cautioned that &ldquo;earnings and cash flow will remain under pressure in the near term.&rdquo; The agency said KCS has more limited scale and market diversity than larger railroads, and &ldquo;its earnings stability is somewhat weaker than its Class 1 peers.&rdquo; Its Kansas City Southern de Mexico unit last year contributed 44 percent of consolidated earnings, yet in 2009 it &ldquo;experienced pressure due to weakness in the automotive and manufacturing-related sectors. KCS has partially offset the declines through aggressive cost savings from furloughing workers and idling equipment,&rdquo; S&P said. Contact John D. Boyd at jboyd@joc.com .

Rail News

North-American rail

S&P Upgrades KCS Outlook

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">MSC plans to provide all of the tonnage in a US Gulf service, with Zim slated to get a lower share of slot space as weaker demand forces service changes. </div>

MSC plans to provide all of the tonnage in a US Gulf service, with Zim slated to get a lower share of slot space as weaker demand forces service changes.

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<div class="phx-topic">Zim Integrated Shipping looks to withdraw capacity from an Asia-US Gulf Coast service it operates with Mediterranean Shipping Co. (MSC) in response to a “drastic drop” in trans-Pacific cargo bookings. The withdrawal and other changes show how the Trump administration’s tariffs against China continue to redraw container services. In a Federal Maritime Commission filing last week, MSC and Zim said they were making interim changes to their <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/ocean-carrier-alliance-shakeup-offers-varied-service-choices-for-shippers-5735374">vessel sharing agreement</a> (VSA) struck last September for six trans-Pacific services to US East and Gulf coasts. The interim changes, which take effect next week, were made “in light of the drastic drop in demand resulting from current trade conditions.” The interim change will affect Zim’s South Lotus service that MSC jointly operates as its Lone Star Express service. Under the new arrangement, Zim will provide three ships to the 13-ship rotation. Zim originally provided up to six ships under the earlier VSA, which started out as a 12-ship string. MSC will provide all the Lone Star capacity by early fall, although Zim will have the option to contribute up to four ships. Zim’s container slot allocation on other services under the VSA will also be lower under the temporary arrangement. The ports served under the VSA were also changed to include Indonesia and Taiwan, along with the existing Asia port network of China, Vietnam, South Korea, Thailand and Singapore. Last week, MSC and Zim announced that their Emerald-Xpress Boston service would add a call in Taiwan. Evergreen Marine offers Taiwan service into the East Coast, as does the jointly operated Hapag-Lloyd and Wan Hai AA7 service, but carriers have rarely offered direct service from Indonesia. <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/maersk-to-debut-new-houston-norfolk-trans-pac-service-in-march-5223666">Maersk was the last to try</a> in 2022, but <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/maersk-culls-another-trans-pac-service-as-ship-supply-outstrips-demand-5245556">it suspended the service</a> a year later. The most recent changes come after MSC and Zim announced the suspension of <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/msc-suspends-two-us-services-rejigs-others-as-tariffs-hit-chinese-imports-6000649">one East Coast and one Gulf Coast service</a> due to <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/hapag-lloyd-saw-china-bookings-drop-hard-after-us-enacted-tariffs-5990185">the sharp drop in container bookings</a> from China following the April 9 release of President Trump’s latest tariffs. While the subsequent easing of those tariffs will spur <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/trans-pacific-carriers-announce-massive-june-rate-hikes-6005450">a rebound in shipments</a> from China, MSC and Zim’s recent schedules are adding calls to Southeast Asia to account for additional import sourcing shifts. Contact Michael Angell at <a href="mailto: michael.angell@spglobal.com">michael.angell@spglobal.com</a>.</div>

Zim Integrated Shipping looks to withdraw capacity from an Asia-US Gulf Coast service it operates with Mediterranean Shipping Co. (MSC) in response to a “drastic drop” in trans-Pacific cargo bookings. The withdrawal and other changes show how the Trump administration’s tariffs against China continue to redraw container services. In a Federal Maritime Commission filing last week, MSC and Zim said they were making interim changes to their vessel sharing agreement (VSA) struck last September for six trans-Pacific services to US East and Gulf coasts. The interim changes, which take effect next week, were made “in light of the drastic drop in demand resulting from current trade conditions.” The interim change will affect Zim’s South Lotus service that MSC jointly operates as its Lone Star Express service. Under the new arrangement, Zim will provide three ships to the 13-ship rotation. Zim originally provided up to six ships under the earlier VSA, which started out as a 12-ship string. MSC will provide all the Lone Star capacity by early fall, although Zim will have the option to contribute up to four ships. Zim’s container slot allocation on other services under the VSA will also be lower under the temporary arrangement. The ports served under the VSA were also changed to include Indonesia and Taiwan, along with the existing Asia port network of China, Vietnam, South Korea, Thailand and Singapore. Last week, MSC and Zim announced that their Emerald-Xpress Boston service would add a call in Taiwan. Evergreen Marine offers Taiwan service into the East Coast, as does the jointly operated Hapag-Lloyd and Wan Hai AA7 service, but carriers have rarely offered direct service from Indonesia. Maersk was the last to try in 2022, but it suspended the service a year later. The most recent changes come after MSC and Zim announced the suspension of one East Coast and one Gulf Coast service due to the sharp drop in container bookings from China following the April 9 release of President Trump’s latest tariffs. While the subsequent easing of those tariffs will spur a rebound in shipments from China, MSC and Zim’s recent schedules are adding calls to Southeast Asia to account for additional import sourcing shifts. Contact Michael Angell at michael.angell@spglobal.com .

Trans-Pacific

Container lines

MSC, Zim plan to rework Asia-US Gulf network as demand drops

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The carriers want to raise prices by more than 50% in a bid to stem the slide in rates that began at the end of December and is showing no signs of slowing.</div>

The carriers want to raise prices by more than 50% in a bid to stem the slide in rates that began at the end of December and is showing no signs of slowing.

<div class="phx-topic">Excess capacity and weakening demand continue to exert downward pressure on Asia-North Europe container rates with the various indices showing the spot market has lost more than 60% of its value since the beginning of the year. Several carriers have announced rate increases for more than $3,000 per FEU from June 1 to try to slow the spot market slide but may struggle to find much support in an oversupplied market. CMA CGM will be setting its freight all kinds (FAK) rate from Asia to North Europe at $3,100 per FEU on June 1, while MSC and Hapag-Lloyd will set their rate on that route at $3,200/FEU. MSC and Hapag-Lloyd are also raising their Asia-Mediterranean FAK prices, with MSC rates of about $5,000/FEU and Hapag-Lloyd at $4,500/FEU. The asking prices are significantly higher than current rate levels. Average spot rates from Asia to North Europe on May 15 were $1,994/FEU, down from just over $5,000/FEU on Dec. 31, while Asia-Mediterranean rates of $3,156/FEU were down 42% so far this year, according to the rate benchmarking platform Xeneta. Platts, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&amp;P Global recorded spot rates from Asia to North Europe at $1,600/FEU this week, an almost 70% decline since the beginning of January. Asia-Mediterranean rates this week were at $2,700/FEU, a drop of 50% since the start of the year. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="aa85df16-b8fe-4e63-9181-65cba329e464"></dynamic-object></div>The supply chain director for a Germany-based Asia-Europe shipper said he was seeing offers in the market as low as $1,200/FEU, which was putting pressure on carriers to slow the decline. "I can understand the pressure carriers are under, and they are asking for more cargo but many BCOs (beneficial cargo owners) have declining cargo flows, so the market is really imbalanced,” the source said, adding that there was little chance the rate hikes would stick. “Our demand is the same as it was at this time last year, which is a slack period. The rate increases will not be 100% but may stabilize falling prices. Whether there will be another advanced peak season is impossible to gauge, but everything is possible in this market.” <h3>Mismatch between supply and demand </h3>Peter Sand, chief analyst at Xeneta, said the mismatch between offered capacity and demand was keeping spot rates under pressure. “While rates and demand are going up on trans-Pacific, spot rates are sliding into Europe,” he told the Journal of Commerce Friday. The container shipping orderbook of 8.6 million TEUs in capacity is about 27% of the in-service fleet, according to Sea-web, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce. Just under 1 million TEUs in capacity will be delivered this year, most of it large ships that can only be deployed on Asia-Europe, while only 4,000 TEUs are set to be scrapped by the industry this year. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="b2f271aa-d66e-49e2-9bc8-99469f7fc20e"></dynamic-object></div>Only 6.5% of the available capacity is being blanked in May while carriers are deploying a record 1.12 million TEUs in the month, according to data from ocean visibility provider eeSea. Sand noted that the tariff cuts on the China-US trade following a 90-day deal between Washington and Beijing last weekend has “changed the picture” with some cargo diverted from the trans-Pacific to Asia-Europe. ”One month of ‘frustrated cargo’ that didn’t go from China to the US and is on its way to Europe, the Middle East and South America. The congested northern European ports will be facing a rush in June on the back of this,” Sand added. North Europe’s largest port gateways <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/no-end-to-the-congestion-choking-gateway-ports-in-north-europe-5995853">continue to struggle with persistent congestion</a> that has delayed vessels and hampered container operations at the hubs for months. The reasons include full container yards, port strikes and slowdowns, labor shortages because of several public holidays in May, crane engineering works in some terminals and changing carrier alliance networks. Contact Greg Knowler at <a href="mailto:greg.knowler@spglobal.com">greg.knowler@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

Excess capacity and weakening demand continue to exert downward pressure on Asia-North Europe container rates with the various indices showing the spot market has lost more than 60% of its value since the beginning of the year. Several carriers have announced rate increases for more than $3,000 per FEU from June 1 to try to slow the spot market slide but may struggle to find much support in an oversupplied market. CMA CGM will be setting its freight all kinds (FAK) rate from Asia to North Europe at $3,100 per FEU on June 1, while MSC and Hapag-Lloyd will set their rate on that route at $3,200/FEU. MSC and Hapag-Lloyd are also raising their Asia-Mediterranean FAK prices, with MSC rates of about $5,000/FEU and Hapag-Lloyd at $4,500/FEU. The asking prices are significantly higher than current rate levels. Average spot rates from Asia to North Europe on May 15 were $1,994/FEU, down from just over $5,000/FEU on Dec. 31, while Asia-Mediterranean rates of $3,156/FEU were down 42% so far this year, according to the rate benchmarking platform Xeneta. Platts, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global recorded spot rates from Asia to North Europe at $1,600/FEU this week, an almost 70% decline since the beginning of January. Asia-Mediterranean rates this week were at $2,700/FEU, a drop of 50% since the start of the year. The supply chain director for a Germany-based Asia-Europe shipper said he was seeing offers in the market as low as $1,200/FEU, which was putting pressure on carriers to slow the decline. "I can understand the pressure carriers are under, and they are asking for more cargo but many BCOs (beneficial cargo owners) have declining cargo flows, so the market is really imbalanced,” the source said, adding that there was little chance the rate hikes would stick. “Our demand is the same as it was at this time last year, which is a slack period. The rate increases will not be 100% but may stabilize falling prices. Whether there will be another advanced peak season is impossible to gauge, but everything is possible in this market.” Mismatch between supply and demand Peter Sand, chief analyst at Xeneta, said the mismatch between offered capacity and demand was keeping spot rates under pressure. “While rates and demand are going up on trans-Pacific, spot rates are sliding into Europe,” he told the Journal of Commerce Friday. The container shipping orderbook of 8.6 million TEUs in capacity is about 27% of the in-service fleet, according to Sea-web, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce. Just under 1 million TEUs in capacity will be delivered this year, most of it large ships that can only be deployed on Asia-Europe, while only 4,000 TEUs are set to be scrapped by the industry this year. Only 6.5% of the available capacity is being blanked in May while carriers are deploying a record 1.12 million TEUs in the month, according to data from ocean visibility provider eeSea. Sand noted that the tariff cuts on the China-US trade following a 90-day deal between Washington and Beijing last weekend has “changed the picture” with some cargo diverted from the trans-Pacific to Asia-Europe. ”One month of ‘frustrated cargo’ that didn’t go from China to the US and is on its way to Europe, the Middle East and South America. The congested northern European ports will be facing a rush in June on the back of this,” Sand added. North Europe’s largest port gateways continue to struggle with persistent congestion that has delayed vessels and hampered container operations at the hubs for months. The reasons include full container yards, port strikes and slowdowns, labor shortages because of several public holidays in May, crane engineering works in some terminals and changing carrier alliance networks. Contact Greg Knowler at greg.knowler@spglobal.com .

Container Shipping News

Asia-Europe

Maritime

Ocean carriers line up hefty rate hikes on oversupplied Asia-Europe trade

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">With less than half of CMA CGM’s fleet built in China, CFO Ramon Fernandez believes US services can be structured to avoid the incoming tonnage fees.</div>

With less than half of CMA CGM’s fleet built in China, CFO Ramon Fernandez believes US services can be structured to avoid the incoming tonnage fees.

<div class="phx-topic">CMA CGM will arrange its fleet and Ocean Alliance services to ensure it does not have to pay the recently revised Chinese tonnage tax plan that, for some carriers, could add $1 million per voyage calling at US ports, said CFO Ramon Fernandez. Fernandez told reporters Friday that less than half the CMA CGM fleet of 680 ships were built in China, which enables the carrier to avoid the tonnage tax to be imposed from Oct. 14. “If Chinese-built vessels have to pay a fee, we will make sure that this will not happen to us,” he said in a press conference to announce CMA CGM’s first-quarter results. Asked if CMA CGM would shoulder the load of US services in the Ocean Alliance, Fernandez only said, “We have plenty of vessels which have not been built in China, so we can make sure that these vessels will be reaching US ports.” The US Trade Representative in April <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/revised-china-tonnage-tax-less-disruptive-still-costly-6005402">narrowed the scope of its tariffs against China’s maritime industry</a> to a fee based on the cargo capacity or container volume of Chinese-operated and -built ships entering US ports. The more targeted actions follow industry warnings that earlier proposals would <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/us-port-tax-would-scramble-ocean-services-raise-shipper-costs-drewry-5952046">increase costs for US shippers and pose an existential threat to smaller ports</a>. CMA CGM’s Ocean Alliance partners Cosco and OOCL face tariffs more than twice as large as their peers. <h3>Shipping operations drive Q1 results </h3>CMA CGM’s solid first quarter followed the industry trend. Revenue in the first quarter reached $13.3 billion, up 12.1% year over year, and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) increased 29.1% to $3.1 billion. The group’s net profit of $1.1 billion was up 42% compared to the first three months of last year. The earnings were driven by an increase in volume that was up 4.2% in the first quarter at 5.8 million TEUs and supported by average revenue per TEU of $1,498 that was up 7.1% year over year. Consolidated revenue from maritime shipping operations of $8.8 billion in the first quarter increased 11.5%, while the shipping division’s EBITDA of $2.5 billion was 30.0% higher than in the first quarter of 2024. The group's logistics activities under CEVA Logistics continued to grow, boosted by the consolidation of Bolloré Logistics in February last year and good momentum in contract logistics, although the finished vehicle logistics and road haulage segments faced market challenges, mostly in Europe. Revenue from logistics, at $4.3 billion in the first quarter, was up 10% year over year, while EBITDA grew 10.5% to $399 million. CMA CGM Air Cargo is grouped in the “other activities” section along with the group’s port terminals and CMA Media. Revenue in this section rose 31% year over year in the first quarter to $899 million while EBITDA was up 91.5% at $157 million, thanks to strong performances in terminals and air cargo. CMA CGM also announced a €100 million ($112 million) investment in a strategic partnership with Mistral AI, a French AI startup headquartered in Paris. The partnership aims to develop bespoke AI solutions for the maritime, logistics and media sectors by mobilizing Mistral AI teams alongside CMA CGM teams, according to a company statement. Contact Greg Knowler at <a href="mailto:greg.knowler@spglobal.com">greg.knowler@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

CMA CGM will arrange its fleet and Ocean Alliance services to ensure it does not have to pay the recently revised Chinese tonnage tax plan that, for some carriers, could add $1 million per voyage calling at US ports, said CFO Ramon Fernandez. Fernandez told reporters Friday that less than half the CMA CGM fleet of 680 ships were built in China, which enables the carrier to avoid the tonnage tax to be imposed from Oct. 14. “If Chinese-built vessels have to pay a fee, we will make sure that this will not happen to us,” he said in a press conference to announce CMA CGM’s first-quarter results. Asked if CMA CGM would shoulder the load of US services in the Ocean Alliance, Fernandez only said, “We have plenty of vessels which have not been built in China, so we can make sure that these vessels will be reaching US ports.” The US Trade Representative in April narrowed the scope of its tariffs against China’s maritime industry to a fee based on the cargo capacity or container volume of Chinese-operated and -built ships entering US ports. The more targeted actions follow industry warnings that earlier proposals would increase costs for US shippers and pose an existential threat to smaller ports . CMA CGM’s Ocean Alliance partners Cosco and OOCL face tariffs more than twice as large as their peers. Shipping operations drive Q1 results CMA CGM’s solid first quarter followed the industry trend. Revenue in the first quarter reached $13.3 billion, up 12.1% year over year, and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) increased 29.1% to $3.1 billion. The group’s net profit of $1.1 billion was up 42% compared to the first three months of last year. The earnings were driven by an increase in volume that was up 4.2% in the first quarter at 5.8 million TEUs and supported by average revenue per TEU of $1,498 that was up 7.1% year over year. Consolidated revenue from maritime shipping operations of $8.8 billion in the first quarter increased 11.5%, while the shipping division’s EBITDA of $2.5 billion was 30.0% higher than in the first quarter of 2024. The group's logistics activities under CEVA Logistics continued to grow, boosted by the consolidation of Bolloré Logistics in February last year and good momentum in contract logistics, although the finished vehicle logistics and road haulage segments faced market challenges, mostly in Europe. Revenue from logistics, at $4.3 billion in the first quarter, was up 10% year over year, while EBITDA grew 10.5% to $399 million. CMA CGM Air Cargo is grouped in the “other activities” section along with the group’s port terminals and CMA Media. Revenue in this section rose 31% year over year in the first quarter to $899 million while EBITDA was up 91.5% at $157 million, thanks to strong performances in terminals and air cargo. CMA CGM also announced a €100 million ($112 million) investment in a strategic partnership with Mistral AI, a French AI startup headquartered in Paris. The partnership aims to develop bespoke AI solutions for the maritime, logistics and media sectors by mobilizing Mistral AI teams alongside CMA CGM teams, according to a company statement. Contact Greg Knowler at greg.knowler@spglobal.com .

CMA CGM fleet will not need to pay Chinese tonnage tax: CFO

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The Denmark-based carrier has been growing its multipurpose vessel fleet since entering the project cargo sector with the acquisition of Thorco Projects in 2023.</div>

The Denmark-based carrier has been growing its multipurpose vessel fleet since entering the project cargo sector with the acquisition of Thorco Projects in 2023.

<div class="phx-topic">Norden is further expanding its multipurpose vessel fleet after signing lease agreements for two new 17,500-deadweight ton (dwt) ships scheduled for delivery in 2026 and 2027, the company said in a statement Monday. The vessels, in addition to lease deals announced in January for up to four 17,500-dwt MPVs also expected to hit the water in 2026 and 2027, will expand the Denmark-based carrier’s MPV fleet to about 50 ships, a Norden spokesperson told the Journal of Commerce. Under the terms of the deals announced Monday, Norden will have the option to purchase the vessels, which will be biofuel compatible and feature a similar design to the ships it agreed to lease in January. The ships will be deployed in Norden’s projects and parceling division, which generated $90 million in revenue in the first quarter, up from $55 million in the same three-month period last year, according to the firm’s latest financial statements. Norden, which entered the sector in June 2023 with the acquisition of Thorco Projects, said the latest orders reinforce “our commitment to building a core [MPV] fleet and growing our presence in the project cargo market.” The expansion comes amid “a strong projected demand outlook coupled with a rapidly ageing fleet and low order book,” the company added. According to data from shipbroking house Clarksons, there are 197 MPVs with a combined capacity of 4 million dwt on order for delivery through 2028, compared with a global fleet of 3,371 ships (32 million dwt). Shipbroker Toepfer Transport estimates the average age of the MPV fleet is about 18 years with about 35% of vessels in need of replacement over the next 5-10 years. Contact Keith Wallis at <a href="mailto:keithwallis@hotmail.com">keithwallis@hotmail.com</a>. </div>

Norden is further expanding its multipurpose vessel fleet after signing lease agreements for two new 17,500-deadweight ton (dwt) ships scheduled for delivery in 2026 and 2027, the company said in a statement Monday. The vessels, in addition to lease deals announced in January for up to four 17,500-dwt MPVs also expected to hit the water in 2026 and 2027, will expand the Denmark-based carrier’s MPV fleet to about 50 ships, a Norden spokesperson told the Journal of Commerce. Under the terms of the deals announced Monday, Norden will have the option to purchase the vessels, which will be biofuel compatible and feature a similar design to the ships it agreed to lease in January. The ships will be deployed in Norden’s projects and parceling division, which generated $90 million in revenue in the first quarter, up from $55 million in the same three-month period last year, according to the firm’s latest financial statements. Norden, which entered the sector in June 2023 with the acquisition of Thorco Projects, said the latest orders reinforce “our commitment to building a core [MPV] fleet and growing our presence in the project cargo market.” The expansion comes amid “a strong projected demand outlook coupled with a rapidly ageing fleet and low order book,” the company added. According to data from shipbroking house Clarksons, there are 197 MPVs with a combined capacity of 4 million dwt on order for delivery through 2028, compared with a global fleet of 3,371 ships (32 million dwt). Shipbroker Toepfer Transport estimates the average age of the MPV fleet is about 18 years with about 35% of vessels in need of replacement over the next 5-10 years. Contact Keith Wallis at keithwallis@hotmail.com .

Breakbulk carriers

Project cargo

Breakbulk News

Norden continues MPV expansion amid ‘strong projected demand’

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Caterpillar and Deere are counting the sizable costs of tariff-related expenses, even with the announced 90-day tariff pause between the US and China. </div>

Caterpillar and Deere are counting the sizable costs of tariff-related expenses, even with the announced 90-day tariff pause between the US and China.

<div class="phx-topic">Heavy equipment manufacturers Caterpillar and Deere are feeling the sting of global import tariffs, with Deere bracing for a half-billion dollars in tariff expenses in 2025, according to the companies’ latest quarterly earnings results. Although both US-based high-and-heavy manufacturers produce and source much of their equipment domestically, they also rely on imports for goods and components. The companies are considered bellwether roll-on/roll-off cargo providers and breakbulk shippers. Illinois-based Deere &amp; Company estimates it will incur $500 million in tariff costs for the fiscal year, even after factoring in a 90-day reduction announced by the Trump administration for reciprocal and retaliatory tariffs between the US and China beginning May 14. “This quarter was marked by historic levels of volatility and significant uncertainty across our end markets given the dynamic global trade backdrop,” Deere Chairman and CEO John May said in the earnings call. Deere sources over three-fourths of its complete goods and components in the United States, but global imports — mostly from Mexico and Europe — account for the remainder. “The trade environment is certainly fluid, evidenced by trade agreements and adjustments to tariff levels announced in this past week,” Josh Beal, Deere’s investor relations director, said in the company’s second-quarter earnings call on May 15. Deere reported $100 million in tariff expenses in the second quarter, while the company adjusted its profit outlook downward for the full fiscal year. Overall net sales and revenue fell 16% to $12.8 billion in the second quarter and dropped 22% to $21.3 billion for the first half of the year. Equipment sales in all of Deere’s sectors continued to slide, with the sharpest declines in construction and forestry (23% to $2.5 billion) and in production and precision agriculture (21% to $5.2 billion). <h3>Caterpillar looks to tariff relief </h3>Tariff reductions for China could soften the $250 million to $350 million blow Texas-based Caterpillar is preparing to endure in the upcoming quarter because of these duties, according to the company’s first-quarter earnings results, released April 30. Half of those costs are expected to cut into the company’s construction equipment segment. Another 25% would affect Deere’s mining equipment business, while energy and transportation equipment would account for the remaining quarter of the tariff expenses. In his remarks in the company’s April 30 earnings call, Caterpillar COO Joseph Creed said the tariff situation remains in flux but that Caterpillar is closely monitoring developments and evaluating various long-term mitigation strategies. “Many of these actions require more time to implement and are more difficult to reverse, and therefore require more clarity and certainty on the long-term environment around tariffs,” Creed said during the earnings call. Imports from China would create about half of Caterpillar’s tariff expenses. Speaking ahead of the Trump administration’s announcement to temporarily lower its maximum tariff rate on Chinese imports from 145% to 30%, CFO Andrew Bonfield said easing up on tariffs could bring about a “significant reduction” in its estimated costs. The tariff cost projections came as Caterpillar reported a 10% decline in sales to $14.2 billion in the first quarter, with the company citing changes in dealer inventories. Sales fell across all of Caterpillar’s machinery, energy and transportation segments, with the steepest drop being in construction equipment, which fell 19% to $5.2 billion. The company is projecting that revenue should be flat for the remainder of 2025. Contact Autumn Cafiero Giusti at <a href="mailto:autumn@autumngiusti.com">autumn@autumngiusti.com</a>. </div>

Heavy equipment manufacturers Caterpillar and Deere are feeling the sting of global import tariffs, with Deere bracing for a half-billion dollars in tariff expenses in 2025, according to the companies’ latest quarterly earnings results. Although both US-based high-and-heavy manufacturers produce and source much of their equipment domestically, they also rely on imports for goods and components. The companies are considered bellwether roll-on/roll-off cargo providers and breakbulk shippers. Illinois-based Deere & Company estimates it will incur $500 million in tariff costs for the fiscal year, even after factoring in a 90-day reduction announced by the Trump administration for reciprocal and retaliatory tariffs between the US and China beginning May 14. “This quarter was marked by historic levels of volatility and significant uncertainty across our end markets given the dynamic global trade backdrop,” Deere Chairman and CEO John May said in the earnings call. Deere sources over three-fourths of its complete goods and components in the United States, but global imports — mostly from Mexico and Europe — account for the remainder. “The trade environment is certainly fluid, evidenced by trade agreements and adjustments to tariff levels announced in this past week,” Josh Beal, Deere’s investor relations director, said in the company’s second-quarter earnings call on May 15. Deere reported $100 million in tariff expenses in the second quarter, while the company adjusted its profit outlook downward for the full fiscal year. Overall net sales and revenue fell 16% to $12.8 billion in the second quarter and dropped 22% to $21.3 billion for the first half of the year. Equipment sales in all of Deere’s sectors continued to slide, with the sharpest declines in construction and forestry (23% to $2.5 billion) and in production and precision agriculture (21% to $5.2 billion). Caterpillar looks to tariff relief Tariff reductions for China could soften the $250 million to $350 million blow Texas-based Caterpillar is preparing to endure in the upcoming quarter because of these duties, according to the company’s first-quarter earnings results, released April 30. Half of those costs are expected to cut into the company’s construction equipment segment. Another 25% would affect Deere’s mining equipment business, while energy and transportation equipment would account for the remaining quarter of the tariff expenses. In his remarks in the company’s April 30 earnings call, Caterpillar COO Joseph Creed said the tariff situation remains in flux but that Caterpillar is closely monitoring developments and evaluating various long-term mitigation strategies. “Many of these actions require more time to implement and are more difficult to reverse, and therefore require more clarity and certainty on the long-term environment around tariffs,” Creed said during the earnings call. Imports from China would create about half of Caterpillar’s tariff expenses. Speaking ahead of the Trump administration’s announcement to temporarily lower its maximum tariff rate on Chinese imports from 145% to 30%, CFO Andrew Bonfield said easing up on tariffs could bring about a “significant reduction” in its estimated costs. The tariff cost projections came as Caterpillar reported a 10% decline in sales to $14.2 billion in the first quarter, with the company citing changes in dealer inventories. Sales fell across all of Caterpillar’s machinery, energy and transportation segments, with the steepest drop being in construction equipment, which fell 19% to $5.2 billion. The company is projecting that revenue should be flat for the remainder of 2025. Contact Autumn Cafiero Giusti at autumn@autumngiusti.com .

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The world of LTL is slow to embrace change. Business anachronisms permeate current supply chain processes. These vestiges of the way things used to work define the LTL freight transportation procurement process of many modern shippers.David Knuth, logistics specialist at IEWC, a global supplier of cable and wire based in Wisconsin, is happy to have modernized the RFP process, automating the entire LTL bidding procedure with Bid$ense, SMC³’s automated truckload and LTL freight transportation sourcing solution. But when prompted, he can still recall what once was.In his previous job, a large part of his duties were consumed by creating an intermodal bid package for carriers. In a spreadsheet, Knuth detailed the company’s volumes lane by lane, taking care to delete any errant keystrokes or misleading data. He would then email out the information to each carrier, taking time to respond to detailed technical questions about the spreadsheet data. Finally, he had to compile all the results, create an algorithm that would compare the carriers on each lane, and award the business.“It was a huge undertaking. It took about four months to do,” Knuth said of the old process. “It was almost a full-time job for that part of the year, every year.”In his new job at IEWC, he sat down with Bid$ense on day one and was amazed at the capabilities. Knuth had never before used a bid tool. SMC³’s latest versions of Bid$ense automate the process even further, taking truckload and LTL RFPs entirely online. The tool draws on RFP best-practices protocols to streamline the bidding communication process, enabling bidding carriers to respond accurately and promptly to shipper requests. The solution also does all the distribution work automatically, electronically submitting shipper bid data to carriers based on their actual service capabilities and performance records. Carriers are alerted with timely prompts for RFP deliverables, so shippers aren’t waiting by the phone for responses.Another benefit of automating the process is the data-cleansing assistance. When Knuth sent spreadsheets to carriers, data errors might cloud the bidding process; he might have to resend data or simply accept a price that did not truly reflect the costs of doing business. Data cleansing is incredibly beneficial, he said.The spreadsheet technique also made bidding analysis an onerous task. Since Bid$ense automates and streamlines the entire RFP process, intensive examination is now simple. SMC³ knows that each bid has more than one best outcome. With uniform responses from each carrier, shippers can quickly rank results and create an unlimited quantity of what-if scenarios to make the optimal procurement decision.Jesse Burnett of Central Garden &amp; Pet experiences many of the same benefits. Founded in 1980, Central Garden &amp; Pet has spent the last three decades growing from a small garden supply company to a provider of a range of products from dog chews and bird seed to soil supplements and natural insecticides. For much of its life, the company shipped these disparate goods via LTL and truckload carriers to retailers throughout the country, relying on each business unit to negotiate directly with their freight transportation providers. This arrangement worked fairly well for a small company, but as Central Garden &amp; Pet expanded, leadership decided to consolidate decision making.Burnett helped centralize the transportation decision making in 2015 with SMC³’s Bid$ense. Before Bid$ense, every business unit operated independently as far as negotiating with carriers.“There were a lot of different things just floating around,” he said. “We didn’t have master agreements in place; no national pricing at all. The pricing from carriers was just all over the place, depending on where you were.”The transformations he saw with Bid$ense were immediate. Burnett has been using the tool about every other year since its implementation at the company. Central Garden and Pet’s $19.6 million 2019 LTL bid saved the company just more than 9 percent when compared to its historical average. For Burnett, though, bid automation extends far beyond savings.“We knew that we weren’t getting the best pricing offer from our carriers just because nothing was centralized,” he continued. “We knew that if we combined everything from all these business units and paired it with one corporate offering, then it would drive some cost benefit with it.”When the company initially decided to centralize bid procurement, executives researched a number of different methodologies and technologies. In the end, though, Burnett found that Bid$ense was both widespread and well known, and that his carrier partners already knew how to use the application. Burnett also highlighted the data-cleansing process as a major benefit, saying the rigorous process ensures that carriers always return the best price.“It definitely has helped drive savings,” he said. “Any time you go out there and you drive that competitiveness with the carriers and they know they’re in a bid environment, it seems to sharpen their pencils.”Transportation procurement is an integral part of the modern supply chain. With Bid$ense, shippers can develop a strategic implementation plan that saves them time and money, but also helps them create strong relationships with their carrier partners. These carriers appreciate the solution’s data-cleansing process; when carriers receive a complete shipment history and future volume forecast, they don’t have to guess on pricing. Carriers that receive more data from shippers get a complete picture of that shipper’s freight, allowing them to accurately plan instead of simply preparing for the worst-case scenario. Clean data presented through an automated system can lead to both bigger shipment savings and a lasting partnership between carrier and customer.Whether customers are looking to streamline over-the-road transportation bidding by automating the RFP process or create an entirely new, centralized sourcing process, Bid$ense has the analytical horsepower to get the job done.SMC³ 2020 Customer Case Study

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Shippers save money, time with automated transportation bidding tools

If there’s one immutable truth in the world of logistics, it’s this: LTL is an inherently complex form of transportation. Tariffs, rates, DIM weights, transit times — it’s enough to confuse even seasoned logistics professionals. The solution to this knowledge gap has historically been on-the-job training or university supply chain education, but for a variety of reasons there is now a pressing need for third-party, remote LTL training that prepares logistics workers for transportation success. Global Scope Can Overlook Local Intricacies In the past, professionals looking to move into a supply chain career learned about the basics of supply chain from universities. However, many of these college supply chain programs are now global in scope, focusing on worldwide supply chain management instead of the intricacies of specialized domestic transportation. And even these programs, which used to be widespread, are becoming less common. LTL is not an industry of broad-brush strokes; supply chain professionals really need a pointillistic understanding of the logistics of LTL in order to excel in the industry. Accelerating Need for Dedicated LTL Education This lack of specified training put the onus on employers to prepare new hires with the LTL knowledge needed to do their jobs. Dedicated LTL study is a necessity, not a luxury. At the same time, changes in LTL and the broader supply chain world are accelerating. The reliance on e-commerce has ballooned since the start of the pandemic, and last-mile LTL shipments and related e-commerce strains on the supply chain won’t diminish once social distancing abates. That genie isn’t going back into the bottle. So supply chain employers need logistics workers that are fully versed in all aspects of the industry, ready to solve unique shipping and delivery problems based on their extensive supply chain knowledge But why care about LTL? It’s been reported that some shippers in today’s world are no longer concerned with what mode is used to ship their goods. A Multimodal Approach Ensures On-Time Delivery This mode agnosticism means supply chain stakeholders have to be well versed in all modes of transportation. As unforeseen weather events and other disruptions, such as protests, become more common, savvy logistics employees will need to be armed with familiarity of all modes, not just the most popular, to ensure that freight is delivered on time, without damage, and in the most financially expedient way possible. Offerings like SMC³’s LTL online education courses cover a wide range of topics from LTL basics and operations to more advanced concepts like pricing analytics and transportation law. The company also has plans to continually refresh content, adding new expert presenters and taking the feedback of students to make the courses even better as time goes on. Learn more about&nbsp;<a href="https://logisticstrainingcenter.com/smc3-courses/" rel="noreferrer" class="joc_admin__link">SMC³’s LTL Online Education program</a>&nbsp;and view the 2021 hybrid schedule, featuring live industry experts,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.smc3.com/onlinelearning2021/" rel="noreferrer" class="joc_admin__link">here.</a>

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