just2bruce

[just2bruce]

Impact of Trade Wars on Sustainable Energy Projects

How will the trade wars affect sustainable energy projects and products? S&P Global has a report that analyzes this. Any long-term conclusions are risky, given the US propensity to alter course (TACO tactics). But thanks to them for giving it a try. This traffic light analysis is helpful to understand the implications for different utility grade technologies. Batteries seem to be hit the…

[just2bruce]

The 2025 State of Logistics Report reveals rising logistics costs, shifting trade patterns, and new challenges from inflation, geopolitics, and climate change.

[just2bruce]

How Ultra-Large Container Ships are Transforming West Africa

Ultra-large container vessels are coming to West Africa. There is pent-up demand for goods in West Africa and throughout the continent. That’s because African economies are slowly improving, creating more consumers and businesses with money to spend. Infrastructure to handle the ULCVs has been in short supply, but after considerable investment over the past few years, the giants can now land in…

[just2bruce]

EU's Black Sea Maritime Safety Hub: A Strategic Initiative

The EU is planning to create a Black Sea Maritime Safety Hub. It’s important because of the adversarial maritime climate there. The Black Sea is used by Ukraine, Russia, Turkey, and other nations as a port to the world. It’s busy, and there is danger of interference or attacks due to the war in Ukraine. “The EU is committed to help turn the Black Sea into a mine-free sea basin through enhanced…

[just2bruce]

A "radically simplified" solution for SAF

I don’t usually write about air, but in this case I have two connections. First, Aether Fuels is a new Chicago-based concern with an innovative approach to the Fischer-Tropsch process for making fuel from waste. When I was in Chicago, I participated in some of the planning for the South Chicago airport, which sparked my interest in airport development. If you’ve flown through O’Hare, you have…

[just2bruce]

UCL’s new study shows dual‑fuel ammonia ships offer the lowest carbon abatement cost over a vessel’s lifetime, outpacing methanol, LNG and e‑ammonia.

[just2bruce]

Carbon Capture for ships - current state

Some people think carbon capture onboard is going to be important in meeting emissions goals for ships. There is some entrepreneurship, and some interest by large oil producers and purveyors. However, many problems remain to be solved. There is essentially no ‘supply chain’ to handle the liquefied carbon product the ships produce onboard from running the carbon capture equipment. Liquid CO2 has…

[just2bruce]

Loose cable connection destroys bridge?

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Office of Marine Safety released a report on the Dali bridge ‘allision’ (not a collision) that destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore MD USA. We all read with amazement at the destruction of this major bridge, which carries much East Coast auto and truck traffic between New York-Philadelphia and Washington DC. The cost to repair it is…

[just2bruce]

SONAR data show shippers' East Coast strike worries

It’s interesting how when we measure something we soon are able to pick up signals that something different is happening. Freightwaves has been publishing SONAR data on different logistical measures for quite a while. This article shows several measurements which tell us that shippers are looking for alternatives in advance of any East Coast port strike in the US. Inbound bookings are up at Los…

[just2bruce]

Your packages will cost more to ship

UPS is adding surcharges to package shipments. The ‘surge fee’ is applied to packages from China and 12 Australasian countries arriving by air. It should result in a big revenue gain. Shipments from China to the US are up more than 20% from last year. Many of the shipments are de minimis, which means they are small in size and/or weight, and don’t need a special customs handling. The ‘surge fee’…

[just2bruce]

Rail freight inducements hope to drive new loads

Several national rail agencies are actively working to increase rail traffic, with a focus on reducing costs and emissions.

This interesting article ties together several efforts by national rail agencies to drum up more traffic. The countries range from Russia to the UK. When you have a national railroad, rather than private enterprise, you can make quick changes that will reduce costs for the kinds of shipments you want. The article focuses on Russia, which is losing lots of cargoes from the Far East headed for…

[just2bruce]

Labor disruption coming for supply chains

Now is the time for labor unions to press ports and railways for new benefits for workers. There is a perfect storm of labor stoppages about to take place. Thursday (that’s two days from this writing) the Teamsters Canada union (TCRC) expects to strike the CPKC railroad, one of the two largest in Canada. CPKC is also a large US and Mexico railway, and we’ve yet to see if US unions will honor a…

[just2bruce]

Geopolitics and shipping

Geopolitics is having a great effect on ocean shipping today. Trade is where wars are fought now. It may have been true in the past as well, but the means and methods are changing rapidly. I listened to this podcast featuring Jon Thompson, co-founder and commercial director of Ambrey, an international risk management company. He made several interesting points. What’s become possible only…

[just2bruce]

Red Sea ripples spread across trades

The repercussions of the Red Sea crisis have been longer-lasting and more severe than many shippers thought. Shippers expected delays proportional to the extra sailing time. They may have expected proportional cost increases as well. But they did not count on such factors as the extreme congestion in Singapore and in other ports. And in ports that have become pivotal, there are looming shortages…

[just2bruce]

Dark fleets and Sanctions

We now have two worlds of international commerce, as a result of trade wars and the Ukraine-Russia conflict. As the Western world, principally the EU, UK and related countries and the US look to tighten sanctions on Russian oil exports, some shipowners are finding creative ways to get around the rules set by the West. One important escape hatch is to flag ships with a Flag State that doesn’t…

[just2bruce]

Ukraine grain exports leap

The expired Russia-UN shipping deal has spurred Ukrainian grain exports by sea.

It’s been a year since the shipping agreement expired between Russia and the UN. The agreement allowed grain from Ukraine to be exported through the Black Sea without attacks from Russia. Many believed that the expiration would mean disaster for Ukranian grain shipments. Ukraine is one of the world’s greatest exporters of grains. The country has a legendary reputation as the world’s breadbasket.…

[just2bruce]

State of Logistics Report 2024

We now have the latest State of Logistics Report from Penske and Kearney in cooperation with the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP). It’s a good piece of solid research. I was most interested in two specific aspects it presents. The first topic was the total United States Business Logistics Costs (USBLC) table. Logistics costs in 2023 actually shrank by 11% over the past…