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.

Cheniere Energy Partners said it completed all milestones and issued a full notice to proceed to Bechtel Oil, Gas and Chemicals to build the first two liquefaction trains of the Sabine Pass liquefaction and export project. The first train is expected to start operations as early as 2015, it said.

Cargo rate management firms INTTRA and CargoSphere announced an agreement making CargoSphere's integrated solution for rate management, schedule selection and shipment management through one easy-to-use, integrated process available to INTTRA customers. INTTRA has released the Ocean Schedules and Booking Application Programming Interface (API), so CargoSphere is able to bring together an advanced rate engine and contract management capability with the INTTRA multi-carrier shipping platform, they said.

Air freight traffic in the first half of 2012 declined by 1 percent, despite a 1 percent year-over-year gain in June, according to the Airport Operators Council International. Top freight hubs in Asia rebounded from several months of traffic declines, but many key freight hubs in North America continue to experience declines in freight traffic, it said. Freight traffic increased in the Middle East by +9.2% and Latin America-Caribbean by +3.7%, it said. AOCI's FreightFlash statistics are based on a sample of about 70% of total freight traffic worldwide.

The container equipment fleet grew by 8.5% during 2011, taking the global fleet to 31.25 million TEU, according to Drewry Maritime Research's Container Census 2012. That followed 7% growth in 2010, it said. The report said there were indications that up to 70% of 2011 net additions were made in the first 6 months of the year, apparently because of misreading of demand -- few buyers predicted an over-supply (900,000 teu at mid-2011, and over 500,000 teu end-2011) that was exacerbated by a weak peak season. Still utilization topped 95%. Andrew Foxcroft, author of the Container Census report, forecasted that annual container fleet growth will be in the order of 7% from 2012-2015 as shipping companies continue to adopt a tight container/slot operating ratio.

Freightquote is moving its headquarters to a new location in Kansas City, Mo., in order to accommodate its substantial growth, it said. The expected move-in date is late May 2013. The building will be 200,000 square feet and feature more office space and employee amenities.

U.S. import shipment volume for July, measured in TEUs, increased 9% from June and 10.8% from July of 2011, Zepol Corp. said. July had the largest volume of imports in one month since August of 2010, it said. Eight of the top ten countries exporting to the U.S. saw record-high export volumes for the year, the exceptions being Taiwan and Hong Kong. Imports from Germany increased by more than 20% from June, from China nearly 6%, and South Korea by 10%. Brazil was one of the few countries with a drop in exports bound for the U.S., it said, decreasing by over 7% from June. Inbound TEUs into the Ports of New York and Newark grew more than 12% from June, and the Port of Tacoma had a 40% increase, but the Port of Seattle had a decrease of about 11%, Zepol said. But most ports had significant increases, it said. All of the top ten Vessel-Operating Common Carriers increased inbound TEUs from June to July, with Mediterranean Shipping Company, APL, and Hanjin Shipping all up more than 10%. China Shipping Container Lines, however, had a decrease of nearly 15%.

SeaCube Container Leasing had net income of $11.8 million for the second quarter of 2012 compared to $8.3 million for the second quarter of 2011. Revenue was $49.4 million vs. $40.8 million for the second quarter of 2011. Utilization continued to be strong with average second quarter utilization of 97.8%.