Global supply chains entered May with capacity expansion, M&A activity and sustainability scrutiny dominating operators’ agendas. From new container terminals on the U.S. East Coast and a fresh Western European logistics hub, to deeper consolidation in U.S. rail and freight tech, today’s briefing maps the moves shaping the week ahead for shippers, carriers and 3PLs.
Operations & 3PL
MSC and Tradepoint break ground on first private U.S. container terminal in decades.
Baltimore’s Sparrows Point Container Terminal is on track to open its first berth in 2028,
some 14 years after the former steel mill site began its conversion into a logistics complex.
The project marks a rare greenfield East Coast box facility and reinforces MSC’s growing
U.S. terminal footprint. Source: JOC
Gebrüder Weiss inaugurates €100m logistics and IT hub in Austria.
The Austrian forwarder opened a multi-modal site combining warehousing, IT operations and
contract logistics services, designed to anchor Central European flows across road, air and
sea. The investment ranks among the largest single-site commitments by a European 3PL this year.
Source: Container News
Target rolls out a new category of supply chain facility.
The U.S. retailer is launching a network node intended to bridge upstream sortation and
last-mile fulfillment, part of a broader push to compress lead times and serve same-day
demand without relying solely on traditional distribution centers.
Source: Supply Chain Dive
DHL eyes U.S. data center build-out as a new revenue lever.
DHL Group’s CEO told analysts the integrator sees data center construction logistics —
from heavy-lift moves to white-glove server installation — as a structural growth pillar,
amplifying its existing footprint in U.S. industrial logistics.
Source: JOC
Technology & Automation
EPG and Locus Robotics partner to accelerate warehouse picking.
The integration plugs Locus’s autonomous mobile robots into EPG’s warehouse execution
software, targeting picking productivity gains for European 3PLs and retailers grappling
with persistent labour shortages.
Source: Supply Chain 24/7
Zebra Technologies takes equity stake in robotic vision specialist.
The investment deepens Zebra’s machine-vision portfolio for fulfillment and material
handling automation, signalling continued capital flow toward perception software as
robotics deployments scale beyond pilot phase.
Source: DC Velocity
Dassault Systèmes and Omron build a joint digital twin for manufacturing.
The partnership pairs Dassault’s 3DEXPERIENCE platform with Omron’s automation hardware
to deliver virtual commissioning of production lines, a pattern increasingly used to
shorten ramp-up times in automotive and electronics plants.
Source: SCQ
Hardware constraints emerge as humanoid robotics race intensifies.
Asian component makers are flagging bottlenecks in actuators, sensors and high-density
batteries as humanoid programs move from prototype to limited commercial pilots, a signal
the industrial supply chain for service robotics is still immature.
Source: DIGITIMES
Sustainability & Energy
IMO carbon plan survives U.S. pushback at MEPC 84.
Member states kept the maritime decarbonisation framework on track despite Washington’s
attempt to dilute mid-term measures, preserving the trajectory toward a global GHG fuel
standard and economic mechanism for international shipping.
Source: gCaptain
Port of Klaipėda begins testing shore power equipment.
The Baltic gateway has energised cold-ironing infrastructure for berthed vessels,
joining a growing cohort of European ports rolling out onshore power supply ahead of
the EU’s 2030 mandate for major TEN-T harbours.
Source: Container News
Asia-Pacific ports advance hydrogen and e-fuel readiness.
Cross-sector consortia in Singapore, Australia and Japan are aligning bunkering protocols,
storage and certification for green hydrogen derivatives, accelerating the build-out of
alternative fuel corridors for deep-sea shipping.
Source: Hellenic Shipping
International Markets
Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern refile their merger with the STB.
The two Class I rails resubmitted paperwork for what would be the first transcontinental
U.S. railroad, expanding their commitments on freight conversions from truck.
The Surface Transportation Board’s decision is expected to anchor North American freight
strategy for the rest of the decade.
Source: Logistics Management
Cosco anchors a new wave of container newbuild orders.
Charterers have joined Chinese owners in committing to fresh boxship contracts, signalling
that carriers expect tonnage demand to absorb capacity even as Red Sea routings normalise —
a development that may reset the orderbook math for liner economics.
Source: The Loadstar
Tenet and Crown merge in freight tech consolidation move.
The combination brings together two transportation software vendors targeting brokers and
asset-light carriers, the latest sign that the freight tech segment is rationalising after
several years of capital-fuelled fragmentation.
Source: DC Velocity
“Durian Express” rail service reshapes Southeast Asia–China cold chain flows.
A new cross-border rail link is cutting durian transit times into mainland China,
lowering retail prices and offering a template for perishables corridors that bypass
congested maritime gateways.
Source: SCMP Business
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Updated daily — your morning briefing on global supply chain.
