Know What's Happening in Supply Chain
Know What's Happening in Supply Chain
Iranian drone strikes hit Kuwait’s oil infrastructure ahead of OPEC+ talks
Iranian drones struck Kuwait’s oil infrastructure, causing severe material damage to petrochemical plants, a government office complex and desalination facilities, just hours before an OPEC+ meeting where members agreed in principle to raise output by 206,000 barrels per day in May.
Also developing:
DKSH Holding AG disclosed a deal to purchase AIC Ingredients Sdn Bhd, a Malaysian bakery‑focused functional‑ingredients maker. The transaction, slated to close in Q2 2026, will create a third ekpi pillar in Malaysia and broaden DKSH’s food‑blending capabilities across Southeast Asia.
Iran is processing ships at the Imam Khomeini port, located in Khuzestan at the northernmost extreme of the Gulf, near Kharg Island. So, for ships seeking passage approval from Iran, they have to sail all the way to the northern end...
FreightWaves Today, our daily freight market show coming in May, is now the most successful ad-supported show we've ever launched at FreightWaves. I will be the host alongside Julie, featuring Zach, Malcolm, Charles, and our team of market experts. Each...
Lucas Systems' new study of 114 U.S. supply‑chain executives reveals warehouses are struggling with a surge in unplanned disruptions post‑COVID. More than half report their automation is too rigid, with 85% experiencing up to ten significant interruptions in the past...
The Yemen‑based Houthis warned they will join Iran against any coalition that aligns the United States and Israel, threatening to block the Bab el‑Mandeb Strait. Saudi Arabia has hinted it may intervene, raising the prospect of a direct Houthi‑Saudi confrontation. A...
Supermicro sold AI‑focused servers equipped with Nvidia A100 GPUs to four Chinese universities, including two with direct military ties. Reuters documents show two additional universities attempted similar purchases, citing ties to the People’s Liberation Army and missile‑technology programs. The sales...
SEMI Europe participated in the European Commission’s Implementation Dialogue on the Chips Act, supporting the upcoming revision known as Chips Act 2.0. The association highlighted its Chips Act Report, which contains 30 recommendations covering regulatory simplification, faster permitting, targeted investment,...
I've spent two decades in supply chain and procurement. And in that time, I've watched the same pattern play out repeatedly. The procurement team works hard. They run RFQs, manage suppliers, and negotiate contracts. They do everything right. And yet — they...
We’ve never been good at fixing things we blew up and we are the world’s best at blowing things up. It was never a matter of if we’d get into a kinetic conflict with Iran, but when. All the more...
The Port of Huelva is adding a third railway track, V3, 1,211 m long, to its South Quay terminal, expanding the platform by 15,112 m² to nearly 49,000 m². Funded by the EU’s NextGenerationEU recovery plan, the upgrade includes modern safety, signaling, drainage...
Operation Epic Fury, the US‑Israeli offensive against Iran, has effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz, choking roughly 20% of global crude oil flow and a host of other critical commodities. The closure also traps 22% of urea and ammonia, 24%...
The article shows that a cargo theft can succeed even when a carrier clears every standard verification—insurance, VIN, tracking—because the actual person handling the freight may be fraudulent. In a recent case, a load moved normally for three days before...
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and FMCSA Administrator Derek Barr s used the Mid‑America Trucking Show to unveil a sweeping anti‑fraud agenda. The agency announced a crackdown on ghost offices, non‑domiciled CDL holders and bilingual testing, while launching the “Operation Safe Drive” enforcement...
Factful Friday is up! After a book-writing hiatus, it's back (and based on snippets from my forthcoming eBook, World War Trade). 👉Why didn’t Donald Trump’s tariffs melt down the world trade system? This Factful Friday, based on snippets from my...
Afresh, a grocery‑AI startup, announced it is extending its platform beyond fresh produce to manage inventory, ordering, and replenishment across an entire supermarket. The expanded solution now handles demand forecasting, inventory control, and distribution‑center operations for produce, meat, center‑store items,...
Fastmarkets announced plans to introduce fortnightly price assessments for bismuth and indium on a Delivered‑Duty‑Paid (DDP) US basis starting May 1. The bismuth benchmark will be quoted in USD per pound with a minimum 1‑tonne contract, while indium will be priced...
A trader has secured roughly 15,000 t of Vietnamese hot‑dip galvanised (HDG) coil for delivery to the UK, despite ongoing uncertainty over the UK’s tariff‑rate quota. The booking follows a leaked proposal that would raise Vietnam’s duty‑exempt quota to about 174,000 t,...
U.S. truck‑components maker TCCI is navigating a fragmented tariff regime after the Supreme Court struck down some Trump‑era duties, but Section 232 tariffs on heavy‑duty parts remain. The company invested $45 million in a Clean Energy Innovation Hub to produce electric compressors...
Drewry’s World Container Index jumped 5% to $2,279 per 40‑foot container, marking a fourth consecutive weekly rise. Asia‑Europe lanes led the surge, with Shanghai‑Genoa rates climbing 12% to $3,474, while Transpacific routes also posted gains. Only three blank sailings are...
Diesel prices in New Zealand have surged 80% since February, reaching $3.24‑$3.45 NZD per litre (about $1.94‑$2.07 USD), overtaking 91 petrol for the first time. Petrol has risen only 35% in the same period. Trucking firms are absorbing extra costs—up to $150 NZD (~$90 USD) daily...
In this episode, Ian Massey of SRM explains how the ongoing war with Iran is destabilizing global supply chains, especially in energy, shipping, logistics, and related downstream industries. He outlines three possible conflict scenarios—escalation, protracted low‑intensity fighting, and de‑escalation—and advises...
India, the world’s second‑largest LPG importer, boosted domestic LPG production amid the West Asia conflict that disrupted supply routes through the Strait of Hormuz. Refinery output was increased by 40% to a record 50,000 tonnes per day, cutting daily import...
Dutch beam‑trawler operators are grounding roughly half their fleet as diesel prices double following the Iran‑Russia conflict. Weekly fuel bills have surged from about $14,000‑$15,000 to roughly $34,500 per vessel, eroding profit margins for high‑value flatfish catches. The situation mirrors...
The major truckstops already do this arb. They will move their diesel purchases between PADs to take advantage of price deltas at the rack. But a good portion of the diesel cost delta is actually tax and transportation related. The...
QatarEnergy announced that an Iranian attack on its Ras Laffan facility has knocked out roughly 17% of the country’s LNG export capacity, with repairs expected to take three to five years. The outage translates to about $20 billion in lost annual...
Autonomous vehicles excel in repeatable, data‑rich environments but still lag behind human drivers when faced with unpredictable edge cases such as stray objects or unmarked detours. Human intuition leverages analogy and cultural cues, allowing rapid adaptation to informal traffic negotiations...
Ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains virtually halted four weeks into the Iran‑Israel conflict, with only six vessels recorded on March 26 versus the pre‑war average of nearly 60 daily transits in 2025. Iran announced a toll system demanding...
Over the past 24 hours, I’ve talked to a number of leading shipping and energy sources in Europe and Asia. Overall mood: panic. Talked to dozens of key people in the USA. Overall mood: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Allied navies might have to reopen the strait...
Lots of SKUs of H100 commanding much higher prices. Inference has moved to N-2,3 etc compute hardware. And we don’t have nearly enough.
Network Airline Services (NAS) has relocated its Nairobi office to the Kenya Airways Cargo Centre at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, gaining a larger, modern workspace. The move supports a growing team and rising demand for air‑cargo services across East Africa....
China has been planning for over a decade to be cut off from global energy resources. Sustainable Energy is National Defense
Australia faces a massive gasoline and diesel shortage, which is a travesty of its own making. NIMBYism and zero carbon policies are killing first world economies https://t.co/zOWEhNZ4qm
China has detained close to 70 Panama-flagged ships at its ports since March 8, a move U.S. officials say is retaliation over Panama Canal terminal leases. The detentions, largely of older bulk carriers, come as Panama sues for over $2 billion...
"The United States has spent seven decades severing every operational link between the Navy and the Merchant Marine, and the Hormuz crisis is the bill coming due." 🎯NAILED IT 🎯 https://t.co/l9z9PP9W7P
EXCLUSIVE: The Trump administration is signaling to allies that it has no immediate plans for a ground invasion of Iran, even as it deploys thousands of troops to the Middle East, people familiar with the matter said. @nwadhams https://t.co/YZRj1gwl2H
Amazon has begun testing a new sales‑enablement capability that allows merchants on external websites to display Prime‑eligible shipping options without forcing shoppers to sign in to an Amazon account. The pilot, announced in early March, aims to boost conversion rates...
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"but the catastrophic consequences of the Strait remaining closed won't happen if the Strait reopens" https://t.co/iULTzt6N2d
U.S. online retailers are leveraging the 2026 World Cup custom jersey frenzy with a no‑warehouse, no‑minimum fulfillment approach, allowing rapid scaling without inventory risk. The strategy, driven by the tournament’s broad qualifying field, promises higher margins but hinges on precise...
Decent odds we see some export bans for key commodities where India can move global prices (eg rice, sugar)
Europe’s beleaguered automakers & their parts suppliers are turning to defense production for viable alternative sources of income. “Without a new revenue stream, they face factory closures and job cuts.” Via @Jordyn_Dahl @Politico https://t.co/Ub0CxTDJYj
Independent testing of ore from a newly identified Alaskan deposit found it exceeds military‑grade quality thresholds. The discovery could reshape U.S. supply chains for defense‑critical minerals, intensifying the clash between mining advocates and conservation groups.
NEW: Secretary of State Marco Rubio tells me at the airport before leaving France that the US does NOT need to deploy ground troops to accomplish its objectives in the #IranWar. But part of the cabinet's job is to always give...
@SecDuffy is a rockstar among truckers who feel that he is the first DOT Secretary that has their back...
The U.S. Supreme Court declared President Trump's emergency tariffs illegal, prompting an estimated $166 billion rebate to importers. Companies such as FedEx and Costco now face a tangled path to recover the funds, creating volatility for earnings forecasts and stock prices.
If you study the rise and fall of empires the two most important things are ships and salt. Now the UK barely has either.
Sharing some charts from the Port of LA's Port Optimizer Signal platform. Volumes into the port are rising in the two weeks ahead (notably that week 14 number literally rose 3% from 9 am ET this morning to when I...
The episode examines the recent fuel shortages at Australian petrol stations, attributing the empty pumps largely to panic buying rather than a supply disruption from the Israel‑Iran conflict. Independent station owner Steve Amos describes how demand spiked, forcing wholesalers to...
Ferrari announced that shipments of its supercars to the Middle East have resumed after a brief pause caused by the escalating conflict between the United States, Israel and Iran. The automaker resolved temporary logistical challenges by re‑routing sea freight and...
BNSF announced that customers invested over $5.3 billion in rail‑served projects during 2025, completing 117 initiatives—the highest count in six years. The projects generated more than 1,200 jobs across industrial, agricultural and consumer sectors, boosting production capacity and supply‑chain resilience. Notable...
