Bridge fracture and recent cyberattack have slowed freight movement and increased surcharges in U.S.
A series of infrastructure-related complications over the last week in the eastern US have slowed freight movement and increased surcharges. The I-40 Hernando de Soto Bridge over the Mississippi River had a crack running through a steel support beam and was closed to investigate the damage and to make sure the bridge was safe for motorists.
The roadway over the Mississippi is an important link in the national supply chain which allows freight movement between the East Coast and Southwest and from the Midwest to the Gulf Coast. But it was also the waterway flowing beneath the bridge that was interrupted. It is an important freight artery that carries 470,323 short tons of freight daily.
The closure created a backup of 62 tugboats carrying 1,058 barges. The most common commodities carried through this part of the river are soybeans, distillate fuel oil and corn. The I-40 bridge fracture and the Colonial Pipeline attack are the latest examples of why infrastructure is vital for the flow of goods.
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UK hit by Cadbury 99 Flake shortage in ice cream
The UK are facing a shortage of the chocolate Cadbury 99 Flake in ice creams after heavy rainfall and the lifting of lockdown restrictions did not deter fans, causing unexpectedly high sales that threaten to exhaust supplies of Flakes that form an essential part of the ice cream.
The Flake ice cream toppers are half the size of the chocolate bar version sold in newsagents and supermarkets. The mini version, which is aimed at the hospitality trade, is manufactured in Egypt and Ireland. The shortage was not due to Brexit or disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, but instead because of supply and demand issues after the Illinois-based multinational confectionary company Mondelēz did not predict the UK’s spring ice cream sales bonanza.
The food group which also owns a large number of other chocolate brands including Dairy Milk, Milka and Toblerone, did not comment on how long it expected the shortage to last, but did say in a statement that “the product is still available to order and we’re continuing to work closely with our customers.”
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Demand and prices for lumber soars in Germany
Prices for wood products have increased in recent months due to a lot more people engaging in DIY projects at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Such an increase in logging is party due to rising demand in various key markets, but half of it is a result of the damage done to trees due to the effects of climate change.
Huge wood stacks are piling up in forests across the country while they wait to be processed at a sawmill. Mills in Germany haven’t had a dull moment in recent months, trying their best to handle the increased workload. In addition, there has also been growing demand in key overseas markets.
“In the US, building activities already went up tangibly last spring, but wood-processing capacities are limited, especially since many sawmills were shut down during the global financial crisis,” said Holger Weimar from Hamburg-based Thünen Institute of International Forestry and Forest Economics.
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Have a nice weekend.
