Briefs
Staff -- Purchasing, 9/16/2004 2:00:00 AM
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The world's leading operator of very large crude carriers (VLCCs) Frontline expects world tanker markets to stay strong for the rest of the decade due to a phase-out of single hull vessels and rising demand, especially from India and China. "The strength in the short-term market combined with the increasingly tight supply/demand balance until phase-out of single hull tonnage in 2010 may create a very positive market situation for tankers for the next five to seven years," the company said in a statement.
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A new study by the North American Die Casting Association says moving to offshore sourcing can produce unexpected costs and drive up the final price of die cast products by as much as 20%. Reasons for these unexpected costs are miscommunication, long lead times, price of die failure, legal liabilities and payment for products sight unseen. The study also notes that market share and technology may be put at risk because of unscrupulous offshore die casters passing along trade secrets, specifications and marketing information.
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While much of the logistics activity and attention is focused on the Asian markets, a new report finds that the European Union's expansion is fueling growth in the warehousing and logistics industries there. Research by the ProLogis Research Group, a division of logistics service provider Pro-Logis, found that the growth of the logistics infrastructure in the eight new EU countries was critical to their economic success.
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China announced it will build $3.4 billion worth of oil pipelines in the next two to three years to ensure adequate supply during its manufacturing boom and alleviate the crunch on its rail capacity. "It was very necessary to build pipelines as China has been relying on rails to transport almost all its raw materials and the rail system has come under tremendous strain," said Han Wenke, deputy director general of Beijing-based Energy Research Institute, a government energy think-tank in a recent news report.
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