Owners and insurers wary of Ukraine grain deal
Shipowners and insurers are reacting with caution to Friday’s news of a deal hammered out between Russia and Ukraine, assisted by Turkey and the United Nations, to ship Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea for the first time in six months since war began.
Within less than 24 hours of the agreement being sealed, Russia had struck facilities at Ukraine’s top port, Odesa, adding to concerns about the many sea mines dotted around the Black Sea.
Splash 24/7
AMLO risks long US-Mexico trade spat by insisting on energy policy
US and Canadian companies have been clamoring for action against Mexico’s nationalist energy policies, but the trade complaint their countries filed this week could lead the North American region down a dangerous road.
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, known as AMLO, has made strengthening Mexico’s state energy companies at the expense of private firms the hallmark of his administration, and there’s no sign he’ll give in enough to satisfy his neighbors.
AJOT
Port of Oakland reopens as trucker blockade ends
Cargo containers started moving again through California’s Port of Oakland on Monday after independent truck drivers stood down from protests that effectively shut down one of the West Coast’s largest ports for almost a week.
Officials at the private operators of Oakland’s shipping terminals said they were clearing backlogs of ships and boxes that had grown since the truckers began blocking the port’s gates early last week, bringing operations to a standstill to protest a new California “gig economy” law.
Bill Aboudi, president of trucking company Oakland Port Services Corp., said he tried to make appointments to pick up containers early Monday but the earliest slot available was Tuesday night.
The Wall Street Journal
Longshore workers, employers reach tentative deal on healthcare benefits
West Coast port employers and the union representing their longshore workers on Tuesday announced they had reached a tentative deal on health benefits as part of ongoing contract talks.
The deal, which covers the “maintenance of health benefits,” is subject to “agreement on the other issues in the negotiations,” the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and Pacific Maritime Association said in a joint press release. And while the two parties said they would not discuss the terms of the agreement, they said the deal represented an “important part of the contract being negotiated.”
Supply Chain Dive
China’s Yangpu port to undergo expansion
Yangpu port in China's Hainan island will expand its container handling capacity with the construction of five new berths to meet rising throughput.
The new pier is to be developed as an expansion of the Xiaochantan Container Terminal.
The development was announced by Zhang Shuwei, deputy director of the Hainan Provincial Department of Transportation, saying that rising container volumes can be expected with the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). The latter is a free trade agreement between China and other Asia-Pacific nations and became effective in January 2022.
Container News
Canadian government invests up to C$100m in air cargo at Edmonton Airport
The Government of Canada is investing up to C$100m in funding under the National Trade Corridors Fund to increase air cargo and logistics handling operations at the Edmonton International Airport (EIA).
The project will convert approximately 2,000 acres of land into a new global air cargo handling operation. With this investment, EIA will expand its multimodal distribution throughout Canada, the US and Mexico. The airport’s increased air cargo capacity is expected to improve the movement of import and export trade routes and strengthen Canada’s supply chain.
Air Cargo News
