The need to know
The need to know for the week ending 23rd September 2022
2022's holiday delivery challenge: softening e-commerce demand
FedEx (FDX.N), United Parcel Service (UPS.N) and other delivery firms that struggled with too much pandemic-fueled demand from online retailers like Amazon and Walmart, now have the opposite problem - too much delivery capacity.
Analysis: FedEx investors frustrated with new CEO after withdrawn forecast
FedEx Corp (FDX.N) dented investor confidence in the new chief executive's vision to deliver a long-awaited turnaround at the shipping company, sending its shares into a freefall after it withdrew its full-year profit forecast last week.
Amazon halts construction of new warehouses in Spain until 2024, El Confidencial reports
Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) has suspended the construction of new warehouses in Spain until 2024, Spanish news website El Confidencial said on Monday, citing unidentified company sources.
Target to hire up to 100,000 holiday workers, offer deals earlier
Target Corp said on Thursday it plans to hire up to 100,000 seasonal workers for the holiday season and start offering festive deals earlier than previous years as it gears up for the critical shopping period amid a slowing economy.
Walmart plans cautious holiday hiring amid slowing U.S. economy
Walmart Inc (WMT.N) sounded a cautious note about holiday retail sales on Wednesday, planning to hire fewer workers than last year as it prepares for the critical season in the middle of a slowing economy.
Bleaker economy could sour airline industry's bet on cargo planes
The airline industry's record-breaking scramble to convert older passenger jets to freighters during the travel-starved years of the coronavirus pandemic threatens to bring a glut of cargo space as a dimming global economic picture hits demand.
UK's top manufacturing body slashes forecasts for 2023
Britain's manufacturers association on Thursday slashed its forecast for growth in factory output next year, citing huge uncertainty around demand and energy prices.
EU proposes supply chain emergency powers, spooking business
Europe-based companies could be made to prioritise production of key products and stockpile goods under draft EU rules that would give Brussels emergency powers to tackle supply chain crises.
Printing the future: New factory tech reshapes the U.S. industrial economy
The giant machines churning out metal parts on this factory floor do not bang or clang - or make any other noise usually associated with heavy-duty manufacturing.
SATS says it is in talks to buy air cargo firm Worldwide Flight Services
Singapore-based ground handling services firm SATS Ltd (SATS.SI) said on Wednesday it is in talks to buy Paris-based air cargo logistics company Worldwide Flight Services (WFS).
Depleted Rhine water level in Germany holds above crisis lows
Water depths on the river Rhine in Germany have fallen after dry weather this week but remain well above the crisis lows of this summer, vessel brokers and commodity traders said on Friday.
Rejecting Chinese bid would put Hamburg port at disadvantage, mayor says
Germany would put its port of Hamburg at a competitive disadvantage if it quashed a bid from China's Cosco to buy a stake in a container operator, the port city's mayor said.
Amazon-backed firm to help power its trucking fleet with electrofuels
Amazon.com-backed (AMZN.O) Infinium said on Tuesday it will supply low-carbon electrofuels for the e-commerce giant's trucking fleet starting next year.
Palantir signs $20 mln deal with S.Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries
Palantir Technologies Inc (PLTR.N) announced on Wednesday it signed a deal valued at $20 million over five years to expand its partnership with South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries Group (267250.KS), one of the world's largest shipbuilding conglomerates.
Auto suppliers raising prices for Ford - and beyond
Automotive industry suppliers are raising prices to their customers across the board, not just with Ford Motor Co (F.N), which warned this week it was taking a $1 billion inflationary cost hit.
Ford shuffles management in a push to bolster supply chain, EV units
Ford Motor Co (F.N) on Thursday announced a management shuffle and the streamlining of its product development and supply chain units, days after flagging a likely inventory build up of up to 45,000 cars that may lack certain parts.
India expects at least $25 bln investment under semiconductor incentive scheme
India is expecting to court a total investment of at least $25 billion as a result of its incentive scheme meant to boost local manufacturing of chip and display panels, junior IT minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar told reporters on Wednesday.
PepsiCo's biggest challenge: winning over millions of farmers to regenerative agriculture
PepsiCo is known for many things: soda pop, Super Bowl ads, its decades-long rivalry with The Coca-Cola Company, to name but a few. Now the $235 billion valued company has a challenge of a different order of magnitude on its hands.
Airbus eases pressure on suppliers but keeps output goals -sources
Airbus (AIR.PA) is quietly relaxing pressure on suppliers to commit to a sharp output hike to 75 narrow-body jets a month by mid-decade, amid growing doubts over the ability of battered supply chains to meet the deadline, industry sources said.
Volkswagen does not see chip shortage ending in 2023, Automobilwoche reports
Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) no longer sees chip shortages ending in 2023, and the German carmaker is preparing for the "new normal" of supply chain disruptions, Murat Aksel, head of procurement on the Volkswagen board, told German weekly Automobilwoche.