Top Maritime Regulator Sees Shipping Snarls Lasting to 2022
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The top U.S. maritime regulator said stretched global supply chains pushing ocean-freight rates to record highs may stay strained into 2022, raising concerns about whether small American companies can weather another year of a tangled transport system and much higher costs.
“As you see the pandemic lift, I think you’re going to see changes in what’s demanded but demand is going to go up even further,” Dan Maffei, chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission, said in an interview. “If this is primarily a supply and demand issue, then unfortunately it’s going to continue because the supply is limited” and “the demand just keeps on going up.”
Biden Will Need More Than $52 Billion for Chip Effort, Analysts Say
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President Joe Biden’s blueprint for the U.S. semiconductor industry marks an ambitious effort to set industrial policy for a critical sector of the economy, but the strategy will need more money and global support to take back chip supremacy and pre-empt a rival effort from China.
The White House on June 8 outlined a sweeping plan to secure the conduits for critical products from medicines to chips, responding in part to the growing economic and political sway of its Asian rival. Semiconductors the basic yet incredibly sophisticated components in most every modern device took center stage in a 250-page White House report, which highlighted Beijing’s “ultimate goal of cyber sovereignty and establishing first-mover advantage.”
Two Interstate Projects Commence in New York’s Finger Lakes Region
A view of Interstate 490 in Rochester, N.Y. Work has begun on a $9.7 million refurbishing project, with paving scheduled to begin this month. (gtatorpics09 via YouTube)
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently announced that work has begun on two interstate projects in the Finger Lakes region.
Named for its long, narrow lakes, the region lies primarily between Rochester and Syracuse. The projects are taking place along portions of interstates 390 and 490. These routes are major corridors for Monroe County, which encompasses Rochester.
I-390 is a north-south route that runs from Rochester to the juncture with I-86 in Avoca. I-490 is an auxiliary interstate, departing I-90 in Victor and rejoining the route in Le Roy. It passes through downtown Rochester.
From bustling U.S. airports to surging demand for gasoline, all signs from this past Memorial Day weekend reaffirm the oil market’s bet that Americans will be out traveling in force this summer.