Textainer Group announced the closing of an underwritten public offering of 8,625,000 of its common shares at $31.50 per share. The container company said it intends to use the net proceeds for capital expenditures and general corporate purposes.
The National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America said this year's Government Affairs Conference broke its attendance record. The conference Sept. 9-11 had "nearly 175 attendees," the association said. Next year, the conference is scheduled for Sept. 22-24, 2013 at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill.
FedEx Corp. said it had $10.79 billion revenue in the first quarter, ended Aug. 31, up 3% from the previous year. Net income was $459 million, down 1%. It said FedEx Express will increase shipping rates by a net average of 3.9% for U.S. domestic, U.S. export and U.S. import services effective Jan. 7, 2013.
Cheniere Energy Partners said its subsidiary, Sabine Pass Liquefaction, signed agreements with Total Gas & Power North America for Sabine Liquefaction to progressively get access to Total's send-out capacity and other services provided under its terminal use agreement with Sabine Pass LNG. The agreements will give Sabine Liquefaction additional berthing and storage capacity at the Sabine Pass LNG terminal that may be used to accommodate the development of a fifth liquefaction train, provide increased flexibility in managing LNG cargo loading and unloading activity starting with the commencement of commercial operations of the third liquefaction train, and permit Sabine Liquefaction to more flexibly manage its storage with the commencement of the first liquefaction train, Cheniere said.
Total cargo volume handled by airports worldwide was up 0.2% to 93.1 million tons, according to the new Airport Operators Council International report. Changes ranged from down 1.3% in North America to up 7.6% in Latin America and the Caribbean for 2011, it said. The three busiest cargo airports for the year were Hong Kong, Memphis and Shanghai, it said.
Trade using surface transportation between the U.S. and Canada and Mexico was up 6.6 percent in June 2012 than in June 2011, to $82.6 billion, said the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Adjusted for inflation and exchange rates, the June 2012 total was $61 billion in 2004 dollars, up 11 percent from June 2011, BTS said. Surface transportation includes freight movements by truck, rail, pipeline, mail, Foreign Trade Zones, and other modes of transport. But the value of U.S. surface transportation trade with Canada and Mexico decreased 1.4 percent in June from May, possibly due to seasonal variations and other factors. U.S. surface trade with Mexico has increased at a faster pace than with Canada, according to BTS figures. U.S.-Canada trade reached $48.4 billion in June, up 5 percent, and U.S.-Mexico trade was $34.2 billion, up 8.8 percent. The top commodity category transported between the U.S. and Canada by surface modes of transportation in June was vehicles, valued at $9.9 billion.
Louisiana Sugar Refining said it received a re-export license from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, giving LSR access to the world sugar market. The USDA Refined Sugar Re-Export Program establishes a license under which a refiner can: Export domestically produced refined sugar and later import an equivalent quantity of world raw sugar; Import world raw sugar for refining and within 90 days of entry, either re-export an equivalent quantity of refined sugar into the Customs territory of a foreign country or transfer the equivalent quantity of refined sugar to domestic sugar containing products manufacturers that possess a valid sugar containing products re-export license. Details are (here). LSR sugar is marketed by Cargill.
FedEx is expanding its "International First" early delivery service, making it available to eight additional countries: Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Japan, Luxembourg and Mexico, it said. That brings the total number of countries to 19. Depending on the country of origin and destination, customers in "International First" countries can receive their shipments within 1-3 days. It's a time-definite, customs cleared, door-to-door express service with a pre-defined delivery commitment for shipments up to 150 lbs. per package. Customers receive International First deliveries as early as 8 a.m. in the United States, 9 a.m. in Europe, and 10 a.m. in Asia, Canada and Latin America.
Lion Technology launched a TSCA Regulations Online Course, covering the core requirements for each provision of the EPA's Toxic Substance Control Act, including import and export rules, it said. Topics in the 3.5-hour course include recordkeeping, reporting, management standards for specific chemicals like PCBs, and the new CDR regulations. The course is (here).
Zepol Corp. said it developed a unique database that allows users to see companies that export from the U.S., along with the products they send, and countries of the world where the shipments are headed. TradeIQ Export contains U.S. export bills of lading for four major carriers. The information represents all electronically available export data from the Automated Export System (AES) of U.S. Customs. Bill of Lading records go back to 2010 and are available within weeks of shipment departure. It said TradIQ Export makes it easy for subscribers to generate new sales leads, analyze the marketplace, and see competitors' trade activities.