Costco Hawaii shipping lockout
The ongoing dispute between the Pacific Maritime Association and the International Longshore & Warehouse Union could lead to a lockout at West Coast ports in the next five to 10 days, stalling or ceasing cargo movements to the Islands. Costco Iwilei Assistant general manager Scott Ankrom said Wednesday that the store was taking actions to ensure Hawaii stores receive products.
Source: Pacific Business News
West Coast to tackle backlog
West Coast ports will resume full operations from Saturday evening after a tentative labour deal was reached between a dockworkers union and a group of shippers, easing months of disruptions to trans-Pacific trade that have hit businesses from automakers to meat exports.
The agreement involving 29 ports was announced late on Friday in a joint statement by the two sides.
It was reached three days after US Labor Secretary Thomas Perez arrived in San Francisco to broker a deal with the help of a federal mediator who had joined the talks six weeks earlier.
Source: Reuters US
Cuts on free-shipping eligibility
Target Corp cut its eligibility for free-shipping of online orders by half to $25 as the company focuses more on its online division to better compete againstAmazon.com Inc and traditional rival Wal-Mart StoresInc.
Target’s online and mobile offerings include target.com and Cartwheel, a digital coupon app. The company said the cut follows an enthusiastic response to its free-shipping offer during the holiday shopping season.
Source: Reuters
World’s largest oil exporter seek $10b
Saudi Arabian Oil Co., the world’s largest oil exporter, is in talks with banks to raise a $10 billion loan that could be used to fund acquisitions and other investments, according to four people with knowledge of the matter.
Saudi Aramco, as it’s known, is negotiating with international and local banks to replace an undrawn $4 billion loan, the people said, asking not to be identified as the plans are private.
Saudi Aramco told banks that it expects to make withdrawals under the new facility, two of the people said.
Source: Hellenic Shipping
