Supply Chain by the Numbers for March 6, 2025


Search
or Search by TOPIC



Search Supply Chain Videocasts

Sign-Up Free Newsletter

Supply Chain by the Numbers

March 6, 2025

Supply Chain by the Numbers for March 6, 2025

Trump may Move on Chinese Shipmakers. US PMI Shows Modest Gains in February. How Many Work for the Railroads? Robotic Order Pickers are on the Move


h
18
That is how many actions are in a potential executive order aimed to reduce China’s dominance in ship building that President Trump is said to be ready to sign. Among the provisions in the order, according to the Wall Street Journal, include charging a fee for any ocean freight carrier, from any country, landing in a US port in a Chinese-made vessel and establishing a new office at the National Security Council to strengthen the domestic maritime sector. However, the document seen by the Journal is labeled as a draft and could change. China is the world’s biggest producer of containerships. Almost 29% of vessels in service today when measured by container capacity were made in China, according to data firm Linerlytica. Chinese shipyards account for about 70% of new containership capacity on order

That’s now the number of straight months that saw their Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) scores above the key 50 market that separates US manufacturing expansion from contraction. That after PMII for February was released on Monday from the Institute for Supply Management, with a score of 50.3, reaching 50.9 in January. That may not be much of a streak, but it sure beats the 26 consecutive months before that in which the score was below the 50 mark, signaling manufacturing contraction. The 50.3 score for February was barely positive, and other measures, like new orders, were negative.



153,000
That is how many direct employees are employed by US railroads, including Amtrak, at least as of 2023. That according to a new report from the Association of American Railroads (AARs) on the impact of the rail sector on the overall economy. That figure jumps to 749,000 total jobs when indirect jobs as factored in. Those indirect jobs include areas such as steel makers, equipment manufacturers, and construction companies. The reports says that every rail transportation job supports 3.9 additional jobs across the US economy. Switching gears, the report also notes the environmental friendliness of rail versus its rival truck transportation. It says, for example, that rail transport on average is 3-4 times more fuel efficient than trucking



42%
That is the very high level of annual growth in robotic picking systems in units from 2023 to 2030 market worldwide. That according to a new report from the analysts at Interact Analysis. That bullish forecast is actually down a bit from the previous study from Interact, the result of several factors including some suppliers recently facing closures or acquisitions and a global slowdown in investment growth across the wider warehouse automation market. During 2023, annual robotic picking market revenues reached $303 million, Interact says, with the market in revenues expected to grow tenfold to $3.3 billion by 2030. This marks a compound annual growth rate of 20% between 2023 and 2030, about have the growth in units, implying lower prices for robots.

Q

Feedback

No Feedback on this article yet.