[FFW News] Balanced holiday shopping season

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🎄Black Friday is done. Cyber Monday is past us. But the holidays aren’t over.🎄

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📈 BY THE NUMBERS: Important numbers impacting freight and logistics

⛽ Diesel: $4.146 gal (🔽from $4.209 last week) - Source: EIA

✈️ Air Cargo Index (Oct ‘23): 165.1 (🔽from 166.9 in Sep ‘23) - Source: FRED

🚢 Global Container Index: $1,155.99 - Source: Freightos

Logistics News for Nov. 29, 2023

🎁NRF highlights balanced holiday season inventories

The National Retail Federation announced recently that it remains confident that holiday inventories will stay balanced — no stockouts and no overstocks — for the remainder of the Q4 shopping season. NRF also pointed out that the five-day shopping cycle that began around Thanksgiving and ended Cyber Monday saw 200.4 million consumers breaking last year’s consumer record. More here…

🤝🏻President Biden brings in new supply chain advisory council

Earlier this week, President Joe Biden convened a brand new council to advise his administration, federal regulators, industry members, and other stakeholders on the resiliency of supply chains across the United States. He announced 30 new actions to improve access, broadly covering efforts to promote the domestic production and shipment of crucial goods. Lael Brainard, director of the Bden White House’s National Economic Council and a co-chair of the new council, said, “we’re determined to keep working to bring down prices for American consumers and ensure the resilience of our supply chains for the future.” More…

🌡️Panama Canal Authority expects drought-linked delays lasting into 2028

Mark Szakonyi, executive editor for S&P Journal of Commerce, recently wrote that ocean carriers are weighing all possible options as dealing with delays in the Panama Canal is becoming “a fact of life.” The canal is so backed up that carriers are transiting thousands of additional miles to save costs. This is due to the fact that drought-related delays continue to negatively impact the vital canal. 2028 is the target year that the canal authority will see significant relief. Read more…

🤑Bed Bath & Beyond’s remnants file $316 million claim against MSC

Bankrupt housewares big box retailer Bed Bath & Beyond reportedly has filed a whopping $316 million shipper damage claim against carrier MSC with the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission (FMC). The estate of the retailer alleges that MSC caused $158 million in damages and that it should be doubled for MSC to issue a terrible contract and for the ocean carrier’s “retaliatory conduct.” Read more…

🩻CSX derailment leads to evacuations in local Kentucky community

There were population evacuations in Livingston, Kentucky, shortly after a CSX freight train derailed, resulting in a burning sulfur spill. 16 cars were impacted as the molten sulfur seeped from two cars carrying the materials. A state of emergency was declared by the governor leading to the evacuation. More…

☕Finish your morning reading session with these…☕

• “Panama Canal is so backed up and ‘unreliable’ that ships are detouring thousands of miles to avoid costly delays” - Fortune

• “Inflation falls mask bumps on the ‘last mile’ for central banks” - Financial Times (paywall)

• “Report: Suicide Drone Hits Container Ship in Indian Ocean” - The Maritime Executive

• “Fleet-heavy ocean carriers also stuck with too many containers” - The Loadstar

Compiled by Michael McGrady – news analyst and writer.

Do you have a tip? Feedback? Email him – [email protected]