QAD Precision News Round-Up: 23 April 2021

In the QAD Precision News Round-Up: 23 April 2021, Japan’s exports surge; UK relaxes post-Brexit controls; Jaguar Land Rover suspends production in the UK; BMW demand skyrockets in Q1; DPDHL plans climate-friendly investments; plus carrier management and more. 

Global Trade

JAPAN EXPORTS GROW AT FASTEST PACE IN THREE YEARS 

In March, Japan posted its strongest export growth in three years. This suggests that global trade recovery is strengthening. Compared to 2020, the value of overseas shipments increased by 16.1 percent. This was due to demand for cars, plastics, semiconductors and chip making equipment. 

Exports to China grew 37.2 percent from the previous year while shipments to the US increased 4.9 percent. In addition, Japan’s exports to the EU rose by 12.8 percent. As a result, the value of exports was the highest since 2017. Furthermore, it is expected that Japan’s exports will continue to grow as US retail sales and demand from China increase. For more details, please see Bloomberg.  

UK RELAXES POST-BREXIT CONTROLS 

On Tuesday, the UK relaxed controls on vehicles taking goods to the EU. This move comes as an effort to prevent a backlog of trucks in England caused by new post-Brexit paperwork. Under the eased controls, the vehicles entering the EU will no longer require a special permit to enter the port region. The UK governments stated that it could ease controls because goods transport companies are adhering to the new requirements and had all necessary documentation on arrival at the border. 

Additionally,  the UK government said freight volumes between the UK and EU were at normal levels. Government figures found that exports increased 46 percent in February. For more details, please see Reuters.  

DUBLIN PORT VOLUMES DECLINE IN Q1 

In the first quarter of 2021, cargo volume at Dublin port declined by 15 percent following Brexit. The drop was largely driven by the decline in freight from British ports, which fell by 29 percent to 160,000 units. However, trade with the EU increased by 18 percent to 158,000 units. According to Dublin Port Company, imports in Q1 decreased by 14.4 percent to 4.7 million gross tonnes, while exports fell by 16.6 percent to 3.1 million gross tonnes. For more information, please see RTE.  

Automotive

JAGUAR LAND ROVER SUSPENDS PRODUCTION IN UK AMID PARTS SHORTAGE

Jaguar Land Rover is to temporarily suspend production at two of its UK factories for at least a week due to a computer chip shortage. From Monday, the company, which has the largest automotive manufacturing operation in the UK, will shut production at its plants in Castle Bromwich in the West Midlands and Halewood on Merseyside. 

Nearly every major carmaker has been impacted by the shortage of computer chips, also known as semiconductors. This includes Germany’s Volkswagen, the world’s largest carmaker, South Korea’s Hyundai, and Japan’s Nissan and Honda. Chipmakers in South Korea and Taiwan were not expecting the recovery in demand after the pandemic initially hit sales. However, the complex factories that make them are expensive to build if orders increase. For more details, please click here.  

BMW REPORTS HIGHER RESULTS THAN EXPECTED 

In the first quarter, BMW posted higher results than expected following a rebound in demand across all regions. Earnings before interest and taxes from automaking operations rose to €2.24 billion in the period. This was up from €229 million a year previous, according to the German manufacturer. During Q1, global deliveries for both BMW and Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz car unit skyrocketed to a record high. This was led by China in addition to demand for the new plug-in hybrid and fully electric vehicles. 

To date, BMW has avoided the global chip shortage causing disruption to carmakers’ operations. BMW previously stated it increased semiconductor orders last spring after Asian markets recovered. Nonetheless, the company said it still needs to work hard at securing enough of the parts. For more details, please see The Irish Times. 

Carriers 

DPDHL PLANS CLIMATE-FRIENDLY INVESTMENTS

Deutsche Post DHL has outlined how its Post & Parcel Germany division aims to become more carbon neutral in the coming years. The company plans to invest in the construction of carbon-neutral production facilities, as well as retrofitting existing buildings. In addition, the carrier will also continue growing its existing electric fleet.

By 2025, DPDHL aims to construct approximately 280 carbon-neutral delivery centres across Germany. The new delivery bases will have photovoltaic systems, heat pumps as well as underfloor heating and building automation. Some sites will feature battery storage systems. Furthermore, Deutsche Post DHL plans to expand its Packstation network to over 12,500 Packstations by 2023. Packstations permit DHL customers to send and receive parcels conveniently at any time of the day while reducing carbon emissions. For more details, please click here.  

QAD Precision News 

CARRIER MANAGEMENT – WHICH METHOD OF ONBOARDING A CARRIER IS RIGHT FOR YOUR ORGANIZATION?

When you select a transportation execution solution provider you are choosing more than a vendor to help ship your goods. Firstly, you are also selecting the look, feel, performance, reputation, flexibility and support of their solution. 

Secondly, you are also selecting their ability to provide the carriers that your organization uses to ship its goods. Furthermore, you are also deciding on their ability to offer options to scale. You may wish to expand your capabilities by adding additional carriers, services and countries of origin. 

You explore the carriers your solution provider has available, which services they offer and where. Luckily, a very good portion of the time, the provider already offers the carriers and services you need. However, there are times that the provider does not have specific carriers onboarded and ready to leverage.

In this QAD Precision Report we examine different methods of carrier onboarding. To read the full report, please click here. 

QAD PRECISION LISTED AS A REPRESENTATIVE VENDOR IN THE 2021 GARTNER MARKET GUIDE FOR GLOBAL TRADE MANAGEMENT

SANTA BARBARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--QAD Precision, a leading provider of global trade management and transportation execution solutions, today announced that it has been identified as a Representative Vendor in the 2021 Gartner Market Guide for Global Trade Management (GTM) report. QAD Precision is a division of QAD Inc. (NASDAQ: QADA) (NASDAQ: QADB). For more information, please click here.

[LIVE WEBINAR] EVERYTHING YOU WANT TO KNOW ABOUT FTZS AND ARE TOO AFRAID TO ASK 

Foreign-Trade Zones or FTZs are confusing to the uninitiated. But they also offer a huge opportunity for manufacturers to save huge amounts of money by:

• Reducing or eliminating duties

• Reducing importing fees

• Gaining duty exemption on re-exports

• Eliminating the need for duty drawback

Foreign-Trade Zone Corporation recently joined QAD Precision. In this 30-minute webinar, Corey Rhodes and Craig Pool will discuss what this means for existing FTZC customers, how FTZs work and the benefits of leveraging FTZs.

Please join us on Thursday 29 April 2021 at 1pm EST for this live 30-minute webinar on Foreign-Trade Zones. To register, please click here.