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Retailers Rush in Imports; Bitter Fight Over Rare-Earths Development By Liz Young | WSJ Logistics Report
Christmas goods are coming early for U.S. retailers.
The WSJ Logistics Report's Paul Berger writes that ocean shipping rates are surging as retailers rush in clothes, electronics and holiday items
to get ahead of rising costs caused by tariffs and the Iran war.
The average cost to ship a 40-foot container from China to the U.S. West Coast hit $5,933 on Friday, a threefold increase from the end of February and the highest rate since September 2024, according to transportation intelligence company Xeneta.
Logistics industry specialists say importers are bringing forward orders for the busy end-of-year shopping season to avoid new tariffs taking effect at the end of July. Some companies have also been scrambling to beat new bunker fuel surcharges that ocean carriers are expected to implement in the coming weeks to account for rising oil prices resulting from the war.
Many retailers are looking to replenish depleted inventories before costs rise. A measure of how much inventory retailers have in stock compared with what they sell held steady in April for the second-straight month at the lowest level since the pandemic-driven supply chain crunch of late 2021.
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Quotable Commodities
A legal fight between two of the U.S.'s biggest rare-earths companies illustrates the stakes behind the effort to loosen China's hold on the sector.
The WSJ's Jon Emont reports that MP Materials alleges a former engineer took technology it developed to USA Rare Earth, which denies that it stole trade secrets.
The race to build a domestic supply of rare earths became more urgent last year
when China, which controls some 90% of the world's rare-earth magnet supplies, cut them off amid a trade fight with the U.S. Car factories ground to a halt, and defense manufacturers scoured the world for hidden stashes.
The U.S. government and private investors have poured billions into companies such as USA Rare Earth and MP Materials to build a supply chain from mines to finished rare-earth magnets that power motors and guide missiles. The flood of cash is fueling a talent war as companies seek to lock up America's scarce rare-earth technicians.
Number of the Day In Other News
U.S. consumer sentiment improved from recent record lows
in June as gas prices moderated. (WSJ)
China's industrial enterprises expanded by 18.8% in the first five months
of the year on an annual basis. (WSJ)
China is preparing new legal tools
for striking back against economic pressure from abroad. (WSJ)
President Trump threatened to increase tariffs
on European nations if they impose new taxes on U.S. tech companies. (WSJ)
Volkswagen is working on an overhaul
that will likely result in thousands of additional job cuts. (WSJ)
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has exposed vulnerabilities in how the world refuels planes . (Bloomberg)
Union Pacific Railroad will assess surcharges on shippers
who go above weekly contractual allotments in Southern California. (Journal of Commerce)
Residents in Warren County, N.J., are calling on the governor
to prevent a warehouse from being built on a plot of farmland. (NJ.com)
Tens of millions of pounds of meat, vegetables and frozen products are rotting after a fire burned down a warehouse
in Los Angeles. (The Guardian)
About Us
Mark R. Long is editor of WSJ Logistics Report. Reach him at [mark.long@wsj.com].
Follow the WSJ Logistics Report team on LinkedIn: Mark R. Long , Liz Young and Paul Berger .
This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.