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HONG KONG — The Austrlalian operations of DP World will face a tough start to the year after a series of bitter disputes in recent months with local trade unions over pay and working conditions at its four port facilities.

After a year of surging sales of foodstuffs to Russia owing to economic sanctions imposed by the U.S. and European Union and retaliatory actions by Russia, Brazil is now possibly the largest supplier of food to Russia, according to the SovEcon consultancy.

The berthing delays that have seen ships back up at anchorage off the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach for the past several weeks are now spreading up the coast to Oakland, in a spillover effect from the Southern California congestion.

China, Serbia and Hungary have signed a memorandum of understanding to build a new 230-mile rail link between Belgrade and Budapest with construction work expected to start by the middle of next year.

With the year coming to a close with no end in sight to the delays at West Coast ports, pressure is building for the federal government to intervene in stalled negotiations between longshoremen and employers that are blamed for at least of the congestion.

Signaling that resolution of congestion issues in Southern California is still a ways away, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are taking the additional step of asking the federal government for permission to work together to resolve the worst congestion seen in years at the largest U.S. port complex.

The Port of Long Beach on Monday will open a temporary 30-acre site for empty containers in an attempt to free up chassis and ease congestion that has frustrated shippers for months.

Fresh food is fast becoming the next e-commerce frontier in China, and the country-wide demand is driving the expansion of cold chain logistics in the mainland that has been a weak point for years.

The door to China’s domestic courier market is about to be opened a little wider for foreign service providers, as the State Post Bureau prepares to green light Kerry Logistics and Japanese firms Yamato Logistics and OCS (Overseas Courier Service) to operate in the mainland express market.

Less than a month before it takes effect, the Port Metro Vancouver drayage program faces major headwinds with truck drivers threatening to strike if changes to pay aren’t made.

The U.S. Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service said today it’s reaching out to the International Longshore and Warehouse Union to see whether it can help in labor talks with U.S. West Coast port employers, and if so, when it could aid.

Truck congestion caused by the deteriorating quality of road networks around the Nhava Sheva port complex, India's largest container gateway, is creating a nightmare for shippers already dealing with months-long rail delays and ocean carrier surcharges at India’s largest container gateway, also known as Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust.

The banana industry in Davao Region of the Philippines is expected to fully recover during the first or second quarter of 2015, an industry leader this week.

U.S. shippers must prepare for further disruption and delays in ship arrivals at congested U.S. West Coast ports “well into 2015”, according to Drewry Shipping Consultants.

United Parcel Service has agreed to the acquisition of Polish pharmaceutical logistics firm Poltraf from Poland-based investment fund Ortie Capital Investment.

North American intermodal volume in November shrank 1.9 percent year-over-year, a rarity for an industry that has experienced steady for years.

Protests marred yesterday’s ground-breaking ceremony in Managua for the $50 billion Nicaraguan canal as opposition to the bold Chinese-driven interoceanic project mounted in the Central American nation.

The Nigerian Shippers Council hopes its new regulatory powers will help bring Nigerian ports up to global standards by ensuring concessions are awarded fairly.

Confirming that eight months into negotiations progress has come to a standstill in West Coast longshore talks, employers on Monday requested federal mediators to enter the negotiations.

An inland port launched by the South Carolina Ports Authority roughly a year ago has exceeded its expectations, reflecting shippers’ interest in reducing trucking costs and securing capacity via intermodal rail.

The Port of Oakland will open a gate on Sunday and begin sending operational status updates to harbor truckers in order to reduce truck congestion.

Trailer orders in the U.S. reached the second-highest point ever in November, after hitting an all-time high the month prior, reflecting motor carriers’ expectations of strong demand in 2015.

Bunker prices sank an additional 8 percent last week, as a six month spiral has now led to a 50 percent decline in fuel prices.

Charging that Brazil’s foreign trade is too concentrated in the Mercosur trading bloc, the Brazilian Foreign Trade Association wants Brazil to weaken its ties with Mercosur and concentrate instead on other foreign markets.

Mitsui-Soko Holdings Co. will take a controlling stake in Sony Supply Chain Solutions Inc. for about 18 billion yen (US$151 million), marking the latest in a series of acquisitions by Japanese transportation and logistics companies targeting subsidiaries of struggling domestic electronics giants.

The port of Rotterdam and Europe Container Terminals, its biggest container handler, have buried the hatchet over a bitter three year dispute over the award of terminal concessions in Europe’s top box hub.

Wilhelmshaven hailed its success in landing a third 2M service as a sign of ocean carriers’ growing interest in Germany’s only deep water port that is virtually empty more than two years after opening.

A China Shipping Container Lines (CSCL) executive has shrugged off demand forecasts predicting 3 to 5 percent market growth in the next few years that will not be enough to fill the capacity flooding into service.

The first phase of an upgrade to Papua New Guinea’s Lae Port has been completed, paving the way for a boost in cargo throughput at the country’s most important gateway.

Singapore-listed Yoma Strategic Holdings will receive a $100 million loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to build up Myanmar’s transport and logistics infrastructure urgently needed to create sustainable economic growth.

The air freight business has just completed its best peak season in years, but the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has presented a sobering picture of an industry enjoying a cyclical upturn while struggling to overcome structural problems.

Though many retailers initially began the holiday season with early shipping deadlines, shops clamoring for last-minute customers are testing fate with extended deadlines once again.

As labor negotiations between the Pacific Maritime Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union heated up this week, JOC readers clamored for information on the topic.

Two former high-ranking International Longshoremen’s Association officials and a Genovese mobster pleaded guilty to a racketeering conspiracy that included a three-decade scheme to extort dockworkers for “Christmas tribute” payoffs.

Concluding the final stage in its merger with Hapag-Lloyd, CSAV injected 259 million euros ($317 million) into the combined company and in doing so increased its shareholding to 34 percent in what is now the world’s fourth largest container line.

Contract negotiations continued Friday between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association. As has been the case since the negotiations began in May, neither side revealed any content from the talks.

Strong monthly volume growth at the Port of Tacoma came to an abrupt halt in November, when the port, plagued by labor productivity issues, saw international container volumes plummet 14.1 percent year-over-year, new port statistics show.

Carriers announced general rate increases that span into February this week, as spot rates around the globe respond to mid-December rate hikes. Drewry Maritime Research’s World Container Index composite index, which measures 11 East-to-West trade lanes, jumped a cumulative 35.8 percent this week.