Reuters Events | Supply Chain & Logistics Business Intelligence

Georgia Logistics compiles a monthly set of facts and figures regarding the Logistics Markets. We selected a few facts to share with you.

 

U.S. MARKET:

Gross Domestic Product: The U.S. GDP increased 2.2% in the fourth quarter of 2014 according to the second estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

U.S. Trade Deficit: The U.S. trade deficit decreased by 8.3% in January to $41.8 billion. Exports fell 2.8% to $189.4 billion and imports fell 3.9% to $231.2 billion. 

Consumer Confidence: The Consumer Confidence Index decreased to 96.4 in February 2015, down 7.4 from the previous month. (The consumer confidence index is based on a monthly survey of 5,000 U.S. household. It is designed to gauge the financial health,spending power, and confidence of the average U.S. consumer.)

Unemployment Rate: The unemployment rate in America fell to 5.5% in February 2015 as there were 295,000 net new jobs. Monthly net employment gains have exceeded 200,000 for 12 straight months, something that hasn’t happened in almost 20 years. 

Leading Economic Index: The Leading Economic Index for the U.S. increased 0.2% in January to 121.1 (2004=100), following a 0.4% increase December 2014, and a 0.3% increase in November 2014. (The LEI is a composite of 10 economic indicators that together create an analytic system designed to signal peaks and troughs in the business cycle. The LEI reveals patterns in economic data in a clearer and more convincing manner than any individual component alone.)

Retail Sales: Retail and food service sales fell in February to $437.0 billion, down 0.6% from the previous month, and up 1.7% above February 2014. Non-store retailer sales were up 8.6% from February 2014. 

Manufacturing & Trade Sales: Total combined sales and manufacturing shipments totaled nearly $1.30 Trillion in January 2015, down 2.0% from December 2014 and down 0.3% from the previous year. 

Manufacturing & Trade Inventory: Total value of inventory on hand is estimated at $1.76 Trillion in January, unchanged from December 2014, and up 3.4% from January 2014.

Housing Starts: In January 2015, housing starts fell 1.8% to an annual rate of 1,070,000 units. Starts for single-family homes were an annualized 678,000 In January 2015, down from 727,000 in December 2014. The index of

pending home sales (sales that haven’t closed yet but contracts have been signed) was 104.2 in January 2014, the highest it’s been in nine months. 

Consumer & Producer Price Index: The consumer price index for all urban consumers fell 0.7% in January from the previous month. Over the last 12 months, the all items index decreased 0.1%. The producer price index for finished goods fell 0.5% in January from the previous month. Prices for finished goods fell 0.8% from the previous month.

 

MULTIMODAL:

Dow Jones Transportation Index: Dow Jones Transportation index fell 1.3% during the month of February. (Stock performance of twenty large, well-known U.S. companies in the transportation industry, average of February 10th thru March 10th)

NASDAQ Transportation Index: NASDAQ Transportation Index increased 0.3% in February. (Averaged share weights of NASDAQ-listed companies classified as transportation companies, average of February 10th thru March 10th)

DOT Freight Transportation Index: The USDOT's freight transportation services index fell 0.2% in January 2015. The index’s reading of 122.9 was 5.6% higher than January 2014.

Import Volumes: In January, the U.S. imported $190.3 billion of cargo, falling 4.5% from December 2014.

Export Volumes: In January, the U.S. exported $128.7 billion of cargo, falling 4.1% from December 2014. January export of goods were the lowest since October 2012 ($127.7 billion)

E-Commerce: E-Commerce revenue in February 2015 is estimated to be up 12% year-over-year, with e-commerce orders up 14% over the same period. Mobile orders (phone & tablet) accounted for 25% of all e-commerce orders in February, up from 19% during the same month last year.

• Multimodal News Clips: 

 

• Legislation aimed at raising nearly $900 million a year for transportation improvement in Georgia passed the Georgia House of Representatives. The legislation calls for replacing Georgia’s sales tax on gasoline with an excise tax of 29.2 cents per gallon, along with imposing a fee on private and commercial electric vehicles, which don’t pay gasoline taxes. 
• UPS recently announced it has made a major expansion to its International Special Commodities (ISC) program. Customers can now ship biological substances, dangerous goods in excepted quantities, and shipments utilizing dry ice via UPS to more than 50 international destinations. 

 

RAIL:

U.S. Freight Rail Traffic: Total carloads in February 2015 decreased 1.1% from February 2014. This is the first year-over-year decline in carload traffic in 12 months. 11 out of 20 commodities showed gains, with one of the biggest

increases coming from grain. (Report includes rail car-loadings by 19 different major commodity categories as well as intermodal units)

Railroad Fuel Price Index: The index of average railroad fuel prices in January 2015 was 332.3, down 18.7% from the previous month and 43.9% lower year-over-year. (Average monthly price for gallons purchased by freight railroads; Includes federal excise taxes, transportation, and handling expenses)

• Railroad News Clips:Total U.S. carload traffic for the first eight weeks of 2015 was 2,250,053 carloads, up 2.3%, while intermodal containers and trailers were at 1,934,462 units, down 2.8% when compared to the same period in 2014. 

 

TRUCKING:

Trucking Volume: The ATA’s seasonally adjusted cargo index increased 1.2% in January. The index equaled 135.7, an alltime high. The for-hire truck tonnage index rose 6.6% from January 2014, which was the largest yearover-year gain in over a year. 

Diesel Prices: U.S. average diesel prices increased to $2.94 per gallon last week. The U.S. average diesel price was $1.07 lower than the same week last year. The average price of diesel in the lower Atlantic states was $2.88 per

gallon. (Reflects the costs and profits of the entire production and distribution chain.)

Trucking Employment: The trucking industry workforce increased by 3,000 employees in February. The trucking workforce increased 3.6% over the previous year.

Trucking News Clips:

• The trucking and logistics acquisitions market it likely to continue in 2015, driven by fleets’ need to secure capacity, rising economic expectations, aging driver population, and restrictive federal regulations. In 2014, there were 86 trucking and logistics acquisitions. 
• As of March 1, 504,169 trucks from 49 states, the District of Columbia, and eight Canadian provinces were enrolled in PrePass, a program which offers the chance to bypass weigh stations and ports of entry in 31 states to carriers with good safety records and all necessary credentials. Currently, 310 weigh stations and ports of entry utilize PrePass for bypassing safe trucks. 

 

AIR FREIGHT:

Air Freight News Clips: Worldwide sales of semiconductors reached $28.5 billion for the month of January 2015, the industry’s highest-ever January total and an increase of 8.7% from January 2014. Global sales from January 2015 were 2% lower than the December 2014 total, reflecting normal seasonal trends. 

 

OCEAN FREIGHT:

Import Volumes: Import volume through major U.S. container ports is expected to total 1.27 million containers in February. In January, the latest month for which numbers are available, U.S. container ports handled 1.24 million TEUs, a 13.4% decrease from the previous month and a 9.5% decrease from the same month last year. The first half of 2015 is forecast at 8.7 million TEUs, an increase of 4.5% over the same period last year. 

Ocean Freight Business News:

• Total U.S. container imports are down over 5% this year, compared to January and February of 2014. The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which make up a combined 40% of U.S. container imports, declined by 19% and 20% so far in 2015. The port of Savannah increased 20% with an increase of over 40,000 TEUs. 
• U.S. imports increased 3% from 2013 to 2014 and totaled over $2.3 trillion. The top products imported for the year include crude oil, passenger cars, TVs and radios, and pharmaceuticals. Oil has remained the top product imported, although U.S. imports of crude oil were down over 10% in 2014.
• Net tons of U.S. steel exported in January were 0.4% less than the previous month, and almost 4% less than in January 2015. U.S. steel exports to the European Union increased 30.4% from last December. 

 

WAREHOUSING & DISTRIBUTION:

Warehouse Rent Rates: In Q4 2014, warehouse and distribution rental rates in the US averaged $5.64 per square foot, up from $5.66 per square foot in the previous quarter. Rental rates for warehouse space averaged $4.10 per square foot in Atlanta. 

Purchasing Managers Index in Georgia: Georgia’s PMI rose 6.5 points to 62 in February. New orders in Georgia increased 12.1 points to 66.7 and production increased 3.0 points to 66.7. Georgia’s PMI is now 9.1 points above the national PMI. (The PMI combines data on new orders, inventory, production, supplier deliveries, and employment. A reading above 50 indicates that the manufacturing economy is generally expanding.)

W&D Business News:

• Mercedes-Benz USA has selected a 12-acre site in northern Atlanta for its permanent headquarters. It will relocate from Montvale, NJ to metro Atlanta and will build a state-of-the-art, 225,000-square-foot office complex.
• Caterpillar, a worldwide machinery and engine manufacturer, will expand its Caterpillar Forest Products facility in LaGrange, Georgia, creating 50 jobs and investing $25 million into the project.