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Supply Chain by the Numbers

- April 18, 2024

Supply Chain by the Numbers for April 18, 2024

Amazon Invests Big on Charging Infrastructure; IMF Sees Solid Global Growth Ahead; Biden Wants more Tariff on Chinese Steel; Container with Jewish Owners Ship Seized by Iranians

tG

17,000+
That is how many battery charges Amazon now has deployed at 120 of its fulfillment and delivery centers, making the retail giant the largest operator of private electrical vehicle charging infrastructure in the country. The charges are accessed by some 13,500 battery-electric delivery vans sourced from Rivean. That according to an article this week on Bloomberg.com. Amazon learned that going green can be expensive, at least initially. Based on the type of chargers Amazon deploys – almost entirely mid-tier chargers called Level 2 in the industry – the hardware likely cost between $50 million and $90 million, according to Bloomberg estimates based on cost estimates supplied by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Factoring in costs beyond the plugs and related hardware -- like digging through a parking lot to lay wires or set up electrical panels and cabinets – could double that sum.

That is how many crew members that were on the MSC Aries, a containership that was captured by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in the Strait of Hormuz on April 13. The action is related to the military conflict involving Iran and Israel in recent days. MSC leases the Aries from Gortal Shipping, an affiliate of Zodiac Maritime. Zodiac is partly owned by Israeli businessman Eyal Ofer. The good news: MSC said on Wednesday that all of the crew are safe, adding that discussions with Iranian authorities are in progress to secure their release. Meanwhile, Iran recently said it could close the crucial shipping route, which would cause a logistics nightmare. Iran’s foreign ministry said on Monday that the MSC Aries was seized for “violating maritime laws,” without clarification.



3.2%
That is the latest forecast from the International Monetary Fund for global economic growth in 2024, as announced by the IMF this week. That is just one-tenth of a percentage point from the IMF projection for the year in January. It now sees only a 10% chance of a global recession, defined as growth dropping below 2%. However, global inflation expected to decrease to 5.9% this year and 4.5% next year, compared with 6.8% last year. Still, 5.9% is a very high number. The IMF also upgraded its forecast for US economic growth to 2.7% this year, 0.6 percentage points higher than it predicted at the start of 2024.



22.5%
That is the amount of tariff the Biden administration has asked the US Trade Representative to levy on steel and aluminum coming from China, triple current levels of 7.5%. The Biden team cited low-priced, "emissions-intensive" Chinese aluminum and steel is undercutting US manufacturers. Biden also telling his senior team to work with Mexico to prevent China from circumventing the tariffs by selling steel and aluminum to Mexico, after which it's exported into the US with no tariffs. The move comes amid pressure from labor unions concerned about the survival of the US steel industry as Chinese exports flood the global markets.

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