QAD Precision News Round-Up:14 January 2022

In the QAD Precision News Round-Up: 14 January 2022, India and UK to enter trade talks; US inflation up; UK manufacturing costs increase; record breaking US holiday sales; EU plans simulated supply chain attack; plus multi carrier shipping software explained and more.

Global Trade 

INDIA AND UK TO REACH FREE TRADE DEAL 

On Thursday, India and the UK launched free trade agreement negotiations in New Delhi. The two nations aim to reach a deal by the end of 2022 that could boost bilateral trade by billions of pounds. Furthermore, Indian trade minister Piyush Goyal and his British counterpart Anne-Marie Trevelyan said they would introduce an interim trade agreement in the coming months, before the free trade deal is finalized.

According to the UK, the deal could almost double British exports to India and boost total trade by £28 billion ($38.3 billion) per year by 2035.  In addition, British statistics show that total trade in 2019 was worth £23 billion. For more information, please see Reuters.  

Economy

INFLATION CONTINUES TO RISE IN THE US

The US consumer price inflation index is at the highest level since June 1982. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the index rose 7 percent over the past year before seasonal adjustments. Consequently, this is higher than the analysts' predictions as well as the November increase of 6.8 percent. Excluding food and energy costs, inflation rose 5.5 percent between December 2020 and December 2021. This represents the largest yearly increase in inflation since February 1991. In further bad news, analysts predict inflation will continue to rise into 2022. For more details, please visit CNN.

UK MANUFACTURERS WARN OF INCREASING BREXIT COSTS 

A survey of UK manufacturers has found that Brexit, customs delays and increasing costs will negatively impact their businesses in 2022.

Two-thirds of industrial company leaders revealed Brexit had hindered their business, according to a survey by Make UK, the industry body representing 20,000 manufacturing firms across Britain. In addition, over 50 percent of firms said they expected to suffer further damage from customs delays in 2022 due to import checks and product labeling changes. For more details on this news item, please see The Guardian. 

Retail

RECORD BREAKING ONLINE HOLIDAY SALES IN US

Online holiday sales in the United States hit a new record of $204.5 billion according to Adobe Analytics. As a result, online sales during the holiday season rose nearly 9 percent. Adobe Analytics compiled almost one trillion visits to retailers’ websites to get the data. The record-breaking number is due to higher prices across all categories. Compared to the year previous, December online prices are 3.1 percent higher and up 0.8 percent month over month. December is the 20th consecutive month of online inflation on a year-over-year basis. 

In addition, analysts predict the December sales would have been even higher without supply chain constraints. From November 1 to December 31, consumers saw more than six billion out of stock messages on retailers’ websites. This is 10 percent higher than in 2020 and 253 percent higher than in 2019. Other factors affecting the holiday sales numbers include: lack of discounts, low inventory and a consumer trend of earlier shopping. For more details, please visit CNBC.

Supply Chain

EU TO BEGIN SUPPLY CHAIN CYBERATTACK SIMULATION

The European Union will begin a six-week cyberattack simulation this week. The large-scale simulated attack will focus on supply chains. In addition, the simulated attack will also have socio-economic effects on multiple states. The objective is to coordinate public communications as well as a diplomatic response. Furthermore, the EU hopes the simulation will increase preparedness as well as an effective joint response from the member states. For more information, please click here.

Carriers

DHL OPENS ROBOTIC SORTING CENTER IN ISRAEL 

On Wednesday, DHL Express announced that it has opened the Middle East’s largest robotic sorting center in Israel. The 250 million shekel ($80 million) investment will enable DHL to keep up with the increase of orders in Israel. 

CEO of DHL Express Israel Yair Bitton said the new facility includes 100 conveyor belts and has the capacity to sort 20,000 packages per hour, approximately five times more than before. 

In 2021, Israel's economy was expected to have expanded by 7 percent. Additionally, the nation was on course for a record year with recent data predicting exports reached $140 billion, an increase of 18 percent compared to the year previous. For more details, please click here. 

QAD Precision News

WHAT IS MULTI CARRIER SHIPPING SOFTWARE?

Today’s trading environment is one of global supply chains. Furthermore, e-commerce is no longer limited to consumer goods. People shop online for every kind of product — everything from tiny components to large industrial machines, from consumer electronics to food and beverages, medicine and medical devices, or clothes and shoes. In order to thrive in this world, enterprises need the flexibility to call on the right carrier to match the speed, distance, region, and environment their products need.

Shipping internationally can be complex. There are a multitude of forms to complete, regulations to obey, and tariffs to calculate. To make matters worse, the rules change frequently, making it even harder to keep up. 

Your company can’t afford shipment delays because of a minor infraction or human error. In order to manage the costs and complexity of global deliveries, enterprises have been turning to multi carrier shipping software. With multi carrier shipping software, companies can automatically switch between carriers. In this QAD Precision Report we break down exactly what this means, and the benefits of multi carrier shipping. Read the full report here.