LONDON (Reuters) – BMW would have to close its British factories which make Mini and Rolls-Royce cars if Brexit leads to serious supply chain disruption, a company executive said in remarks published by the Financial Times on Monday. “We always said we can do our best and prepare everything, but if at the end of the day the supply chain will have a stop at the border, then we cannot produce our products in the UK,” BMW customs manager Stephan Freismuth said. Freismuth added that the company wanted to keep its British plants open and was working on contingency plans, but that any disruption to imports of components would increase costs and damage its ‘just in time’ manufacturing model. BMW had not immediate comment on the Brexit remarks. (Reporting by David Milliken; editing by Kate Holton) … [Read more...] about BMW would close UK plants if Brexit hurts supply chain
Supply chain
Poverty and inequality major ingredients in supermarket supply chains
The report, ‘Ripe for Change’, also assesses the policies and practices of some of the biggest supermarkets in Europe and the United States – all of which score poorly on issues such as the treatment of workers and producers in their supply chains.Source: vietnam.oxfam.orgAmong the findings:• Supermarkets keep an increasing amount of the money their consumers spend - as much as 50 percent in some cases - while the share that reaches workers and food producers has fallen - sometimes to less than 5 percent.• Small-scale farmers and workers in the supply chains of 12 common supermarket products are scraping a living. For some products, such as Indian tea and Kenyan green beans, the average earnings of small-scale farmers or workers was found to be less than half of what was needed to ensure a basic but decent standard of living. The gap between a living income and actual income is greater where women make up most of the workforce.• While many workers … [Read more...] about Poverty and inequality major ingredients in supermarket supply chains
Iceland profits pegged back by investment and supply chain problems
News / UK and world by Press Association June 15, 2018, 8:36 am FacebookTwitterLinkedInWhatsAppEmail Sign up to our Daily newsletter Profits at supermarket Iceland dipped last year after the firm invested in price cuts and was hit by supply chain issues over the critical Christmas trading period. The group saw adjusted earnings slip 1.8% to £157.1 million in the year to March 31, while sales rose 8% to £3 billion. Iceland said that price cuts, extra marketing investment and supply chain problems were contributory factors. “Investment in marketing and price, together with problems in our supply chain infrastructure during December which caused poor overall availability in our key Christmas weeks, and inadequate supplies of some of our best-selling seasonal lines” hit the firm, the company said. Like-for-like sales were up 2.3% over the year and Iceland expanded its Food Warehouse chain to 59 stores through 23 new openings. First launched in … [Read more...] about Iceland profits pegged back by investment and supply chain problems
Minister stresses support for businesses to join supply chains
Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh speaks at the working session (Source: VNA) The minister gave a presentation at the fifth meeting of the 14th National Assembly on May 26th on a number of issues related to export and export markets, the “rescue” of farm produce oversupply, the support industry and ineffective investment projects. Anh said export has been on the right track in recent years with a shift to processed and manufactured products. The country has also established trade ties with more than 200 countries and markets, and joined many free trade pacts. However, he admitted that export growth is unsustainable due to unstable and inconsistent product quality. “This remains a big obstacle to Vietnam in building its brand name, developing value chains and meeting requirements of free trade agreements as well as international commercial practices in terms of product origin and quality,” he said. Besides, Vietnam still depends too much on major … [Read more...] about Minister stresses support for businesses to join supply chains
NRF Tells USTR Tariffs Would Disrupt Retail Supply Chains, Drive Up Prices for Back-to-School and Holiday Merchandise
WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 16, 2018--The National Retail Federation told the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative during a hearing today that proposed tariffs on Chinese goods would destroy U.S. jobs, disrupt supply chains and increase prices for U.S. consumers during the upcoming back-to-school and holiday seasons.“Prices will rise, and the economy will suffer,” NRF Senior Vice President for Government Relations David French said in his testimony. “Retailers cannot quickly change suppliers to find alternate sources for goods impacted by the proposed tariffs. It can take years to develop new supply chains that satisfy retailer requirements for volume, reliability, regulatory compliance and vendor codes of conduct.”“Back-to-school merchandise will be arriving at U.S. ports in the next couple of weeks and holiday merchandise — already on order in most instances — will start to arrive at the end of the summer,” French said. … [Read more...] about NRF Tells USTR Tariffs Would Disrupt Retail Supply Chains, Drive Up Prices for Back-to-School and Holiday Merchandise