FedEx subsidiary FedEx Trade Networks, the company’s global trade arm, is continuing its global expansion efforts, with this week’s announcement that it has opened five new offices in the Europe, Middle East, and Asia (EMEA) region. The company said the new offices are in: Budapest, Hungary; Prague, Czech Republic; Madrid, Spain; Milan, Italy; and Antwerp, Belgium.

In our last posting, we began outlining some of the aspects that make energy unique among purchased items and why a “one set and forget” or “one size fits all” purchasing procedure does not apply.

On the eve of the G-20 Summit in Seoul this week, the International Finance Corporation and the World Bank have noted that small- to medium-sized U.S. shippers may have an easier time of “going global” in the future.

“Beyond the Factory Gates: Extending Sustainability into the Logistics and Transportation Sector,” proved to be one of the more compelling panel discussions at last week’s BSR conference in New York.

Despite continuing uncertainty about the world’s economy, most survey respondents embrace CSR/sustainability as part of their core strategies and operations in the next five years

Even though import cargo volumes at U.S.-based retail container ports declining on a sequential basis, they are up on an annual basis, according to the most recent Port Tracker report by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates. In September,U.S. ports handled 1.34 million Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEU), which was down 6 percent from August’s 1.42 million TEU and up 17 percent compared to September 2009.

Worldwide sales of semiconductors were $26.5 billion in September, a gain of 2.9 percent from the prior month when sales were $25.8 billion, the Semiconductor Industry Association reported.

In an effort to involve more air cargo players in the “security dialogue,” the National Industrial Transportation League has invited some key players to participate in its annual conference next week.

Following the recent attempt by terrorists to send explosives to the United States on cargo and passenger planes, Massachusetts Representative Edward J. Markey (D) said he plans to introduce legislation requiring 100 percent screening of all cargo on cargo planes.

The combined rail traffic to and from the northern EU seaports will rise yet again, says a recent study. But Rotterdam will gain the most share.