Tractor Supply CEO says inflation and supply chain delays will be challenges for foreseeable future
Tractor Supply has had to increase some of its prices due to inflation and supply chain constraints, which the CEO Hal Lawton said he believes are here through the end of the year and possibly for the foreseeable future.
The company is facing price increases across the board, including the costs of raw materials and the transportation of goods. “There is inflation in the market across almost all facets,” said Lawton. He also said he doesn’t expect delays in the supply chain to go away anytime soon.
Despite significant delays in its supply chain and an increase in demand, the company has been able to maintain enough stock in its stories due to its relationship with its suppliers. “Our manufacturers are having trouble keeping up and getting their assembled goods into the U.S. or getting raw materials, [and] they are having labor pressures as well,” he said.
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European ports join to cut ship emissions
The ports of Rotterdam, Antwerp, Hamburg, Bremen and Haropa (including Le Havre) have agreed to join forces to reduce emissions from berthed vessels. The five seaports in North-West Europe signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 21 June to make a joint commitment to providing shore-based power facilities for container ships from 14,000TEU upwards by 2028.
The agreement is in line with the European Union’s “climate strategy” which aims to reduce carbon emissions by half by 2030. The Port of Rotterdam authority explains that the aim is to provide the container vessels with a capacity of 14,000+ TEU with shore-based power by 2028 so that the on-board generators aren’t used when the vessels are berthed.
The ships will then be connected to the mains power grid through a cable, which will benefit air quality and the climate because it will mean lower nitrogen and CO2 emissions. But the implementation of shore power is not easy due to the uncertainty about future policy on whether or not to make shore power mandatory. “An international policy is needed to ensure a level playing field between ports,” said the Antwerp port.
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Post-Brexit checks rejecting less than 1% of British imports
According to new figures, less than 1% of animal food products, plants and live animals imported from Britain have been rejected by State inspectors in post-Brexit checks since January 1st. The Department of Agriculture said it had processed 24,481 consignments since the beginning of the year under the new border controls on imports from Britain.
Inspectors carried out 27,918 checks on those consignments in that 24-week period to June 20th. Just 175 consignments, or 0.7 per cent of those processed, were rejected, mostly because the imports were not accompanied by the required health certificate.
Products of food and plant origin along with live animals arriving into the State from Britain have been subject to sanitary and phytosanitary checks applying to non-EU goods. In most cases where consignments were rejected, the product was destroyed because it was usually part of a load being carried by a heavy goods vehicle, the department said.
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