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:
The Australian Government announced a $66 million Cooperative Research Centres Projects (CRC‑P) grant round, funding 27 projects across manufacturing, artificial intelligence and other sectors. WV Technologies secured a $2.2 million grant for its Aboriginal‑led Global Cyber Innovation project, leveraging CSIRO AI to automate data‑centre recycling and create jobs. The funding also supports robotics, technical elevation and First Nations employment pathways, with Round 19 slated to open in March 2026 offering up to $3 million per AI‑focused project. The initiative aligns with the National AI Plan to boost domestic innovation and high‑value employment.
As a member of the UAE’s Financial Advisory Council (2008–2014), I made many friends. Here's what an old friend just texted me from Dubai: "Our paper recycling plant is still running because 95% of the raw material is collected locally. But...
Swiss shipping giant MSC Group has secured a 45‑year concession to develop a new container terminal at Snake Island Port in Lagos, partnering with Nigerian firm Nigerdock. The engineering, procurement and construction contract was awarded to ITB Nigeria and DEME...
The U.S. Census Bureau’s 2022 Economic Census shows chemical manufacturing expanded while the broader manufacturing sector contracted. Establishments in the chemical subsector rose 10.2% to 14,961 and shipment values jumped 22.4% to $901 billion between 2017 and 2022. Growth was anchored...
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) detained the Liberian‑flagged bulk carrier Ocean Bright and imposed a six‑month ban from Australian ports after discovering that eight crew members had not been paid for two months, totaling US$46,334. The detention followed a...
exploding tankers, the us releasing 40% of its remaining oil reserve, and trump bragging about how well things are going: not indications for low oil prices.
Nature is healing. Qualified and compliant truck driver applicants are starting to increase substantially as the government crackdown happens. Proof that if you get rid of the riff-raff, the good guys will come back.
The global container‑ship order book has reached a record 1,350 vessels, totaling 11.8 million TEU, despite a 13 % drop in average freight rates and rising trade protectionism. In 2025, container volumes grew 4.7 % year‑on‑year, prompting owners to order a historic 4.8 million...
A 400M barrel release can cushion the shock, but only briefly. If Hormuz shipping isn’t restored by late March, losses outpace the reserve fast—about 80M barrels per week. The SPR buys time, not supply. #OilMarkets #SPR #EnergySecurity #Hormuz #EnergyCrisis
This is true. A lot of the shipping and procurement execs have never lived through a carrier's market and are unprepared for Carrier Revenge.
A U.S. Supreme Court ruling trimmed the weighted tariff on Chinese goods from 32.4% to 22.3%, creating a temporary reprieve through July. Some exporters, like equipment maker Chen Zhuo, are accelerating shipments to lock in lower duties, while others remain...
It Was a Bad Day for Merchant Mariners in the Strait of Hormuz | March 11, 2026 Video: https://t.co/dY5IeBnvWF https://t.co/5AFou3YOMp
Robotics is entering a new era as artificial intelligence, especially large neural networks, merges with physical machines to create embodied AI capable of handling novelty. Traditional robots excel at repetitive, well‑defined tasks, but recent breakthroughs allow them to perceive, decide,...
Good morning from Hong Kong. Day 13 of the Iran War. Hormuz effectively closed, impacting not just global energy supply chain but also food and metals. https://t.co/yXfDXHwzMN
In September 2024 Hurricane Helene flooded Baxter International’s Marion, NC plant, halting 60% of U.S. IV‑fluid output and triggering nationwide shortages. The same month, 85 million U.S. packages arrived damaged—a 30% jump that cost roughly $4 billion. To address the chronic fragmentation...
Universal Electronics reported Q3 2025 net sales of $90.6 million, an 11% YoY decline driven by a 20% drop in home‑entertainment revenue while connected‑home sales rose 13% to $29.8 million. Gross margin fell to 29.1% because of a 120‑basis‑point tariff headwind, and...
The Malta-flagged 50k ton Greek-owned tanker and Marshall Is-flagged 74k ton American-owned tanker is on fire in the anchorage off Iraq. It is suspected the ships were hit by Iranian unmanned surface vessels (USVs). The ships were involved...
The United States has opened a Section 301 investigation into alleged manufacturing overcapacity across 16 trading partners, including China, the EU, Japan, and Mexico. The probe gives the administration authority to impose new tariffs if state‑backed excess production is deemed...
Lufthansa Cargo will operate more than 80% of its scheduled all‑cargo flights on Thursday and Friday despite a 48‑hour pilot strike over pension and pay demands. The carrier expects to maintain over 50% of its overall flight schedule, with long‑haul...
The Iran‑driven conflict has effectively shut down traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint that handles roughly half of the world’s oil tankers and a comparable share of container vessels. Disruption of Tier‑3 Middle Eastern suppliers—particularly chemicals, plastics, aluminum...
G7 leaders reaffirmed their commitment to Russia sanctions while confronting the ripple effects of the U.S.–Israeli conflict on Iran and global energy markets. They agreed to deepen coordination with Gulf partners to safeguard shipping lanes and stabilize oil supplies. A...
Ukrainian drone and defense firms are rapidly localizing component production, now achieving 80‑90% domestic content for first‑level parts and aiming for 100% on‑shoring of critical systems. Companies such as The Fourth Law and Unwave are building a semiconductor fab to...
3 terrifying reasons the US military operations in Iran expose the fragility of global economics. Mainstream theory assumes a world of abundance and perfect competition. The reality is that our global supply chains rely on massive physical bottlenecks. From the single...
UN Security Council Condemns #Iran Attacks Against Gulf Neighbors The resolution, proposed by Bahrain on behalf of GCC, decried Iran’s retaliation against civilian targets, including energy facilities, as an international law violation. @Magdalena_971 https://t.co/P9t8JHNDMg
Global shipping’s reliance on Chinese Tier‑1 shipyards is simultaneously financing the People’s Liberation Army Navy. CSIS data shows these yards produce 40% of China’s commercial tonnage while building virtually every major warship, generating $165 billion in export revenue from 2019‑2024. Freight‑rate...
Ocean carriers have been leaving containers bound for Dubai in the port of Salalah, Oman until the Strait of Hormuz reopens. They're regretting that decision right now.
🇧🇷Cargill has paused soybean exports from Brazil to China due to the implementation of stricter sanitary inspections at the request of the Chinese government. https://t.co/75cYy0TIFX
Manufacturers relying on legacy ERP platforms such as QAD Standard or SAP R/3 face costly, manual procure‑to‑pay (P2P) processes that waste millions annually. By deploying ETL pipelines to extract, validate, and load supplier, PO, receipt, invoice, and payment data, firms can...
The crazy thing about the shipping industry is how small it can be. At a shipowners conference right now and a guy is telling a crazy story about what happened to his ship in Oman. I say, “Was it this...
What if they’re already here on a ship, in a shipping container, or being pulled by a truck? https://t.co/qpp4JjjVPz
At the Railway Age Next‑Gen Freight Rail Conference, Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern CEOs reaffirmed confidence that their proposed merger will satisfy regulators and deliver cost savings, while the Surface Transportation Board signaled a push to accelerate environmental permitting and...
So much energy geopolitics, a weekly show is not enough. Check out our new rapid response deep dive on key Iran-related energy questions like this episode’s look at what it would take to reopen the strait of Hormuz. Great...
Escalating tensions in the Strait of Hormuz have driven global fertilizer prices up 50‑80%, raising the cost of key agricultural inputs. Shipping rates, marine insurance and energy prices have also surged, creating pressure on agro‑chemical supply chains. UPL Group’s COO,...
The less‑than‑truckload (LTL) market is showing a clear rebound in Q1 2026, highlighted by ArcBest’s tonnage per day rising 9.9% YoY in January and a 6% quarterly increase. ArcBest’s operating ratio is projected to improve by 100‑200 basis points, reflecting better...
The term “foreign‑owned shipping lines” has entered political debates whenever freight rates spike or supply chains falter, suggesting that overseas carriers threaten national interests. In reality, the world’s largest container operators—MSC, Maersk, CMA CGM, Hapag‑Lloyd, Evergreen and ONE—are privately held enterprises,...
India has postponed a full ban on fuel exports despite a supply squeeze triggered by the Iran‑related West Asia conflict. The delay stems from logistical bottlenecks, the risk of breaching existing export contracts, and the need for a tax waiver...
Not only is there no strategic urea reserve, if you listen to today's episode, you'll see there really isn't much buffer storage anywhere at all https://t.co/niRvIF7txf
Rotterdam’s 2025 container statistics show a structural reorientation of global trade, with imports rising 3.9% while exports continue to fall, especially to Asia. The export slump has widened the import‑export gap by 1.47 million TEU, increasing empty‑container circulation. Carrier alliance reshuffles...
"The US used as much as $4 billion worth of munitions in the first 72 hours of its attacks against Iran" https://t.co/j5LKsavuyS
So, now I'm seeing ads for IEEPA tariff refunds and US tariff calculation work. On the one hand, the market works. On the other hand, this is costly and only necessary because of misguided US tariff policy https://t.co/nU32IBGoFO
Supply chain leaders are shifting from AI assistance to agentic AI operating models that act autonomously, integrating ERP data, partner interfaces, and external signals. The IBM‑Oracle‑Accelalpha study shows 62% of executives credit AI agents with faster decision‑making, while 76% expect...
Awesome. This is exactly the policy we need. By my analysis, we can get these 30 billion barrels of refined petroleum products to market in the next few days, which will really help mitigate the price spikes from the closure of...
Maritime Attacks Reach 13 in First 12 Days of Middle East Conflict. Escalating maritime and supply chain risk. When snd how will it end? https://t.co/58hInlgDQc
Greek shipping magnate Evangelos Marinakis’ Capital Maritime & Trading is converting four 8,800‑TEU container ship orders into Suezmax oil tankers after failing to secure charter contracts. The vessels were originally contracted with HD Hyundai Samho in December 2025 at $116.6 million...
The Hormuz crisis just wrecked Trump's second Big Beautiful Gulf Lease Sale. Sale 1 (Dec): $279M in bids Sale 2 (Today): $46.9M Even with oil prices surging, offshore bidding collapsed. https://t.co/wtW22EKdFE
"The Pentagon gave a private company a choice: change your product to meet our demands or face being largely blacklisted. Such a choice is an affront to the values enshrined in the First Amendment and those that the US has...
A European consortium has launched the three‑year ENFORCERS initiative to secure software supply chains, coordinate incident response, and enhance lifecycle resilience for industrial automation. Backed by EU funding, the project brings together manufacturers, cybersecurity vendors, and research institutes to build...
The Iran conflict and the Strait of Hormuz could have major supply chain implications. Lisa Anderson explains why this global shipping chokepoint matters—and what manufacturers should be thinking about now. Watch the Supply Chain Byte. #SupplyChain #Geopolitics #Manufacturing https://t.co/hLUT5Rpp0T
No suspense here, seeing as the Treasury Secretary already confirmed that these "investigations" will result in new tariffs. The only question is how USTR will justify the conclusions the White House has already written
The GEP Global Supply Chain Volatility Index shows global manufacturing activity rose in February, driven by a surge in Asian factories that reached the busiest level since October 2022. North America’s index slipped into negative territory, indicating under‑utilized supplier capacity,...
