Shipping rates on Alaska Air Cargo are going up from US$0.18 to US$0.20 cents per pound and in future, prices will rise proportionally to fuel price increases.

The Asian Shippers’ Council (ASC) has called on governments in the region to take "decisive action" to stop anticompetitive behavior among container shipping companies following an Emergency Bunker Surcharge (EBS) introduced by eight lines operating in the Taiwan to Hong Kong-South China trade.

Severe weather and record floods "has caused significant damage” to our Union Pacific’s rail network, making “it necessary to issue embargoes for traffic moving across certain parts of our east-west main line across Iowa," said John J. “Jack” Koraleski, UP’s executive vice president.

As China becomes increasingly expensive as an outsourced manufacturing location, Vietnam has become a popular alternative. Foreign direct investment has leapt over the past year from $4.4bn in the first five months 2007 to $15.3bn in the same period this year. However Vietnam is suffering from more financial instability than China, with inflation running at 25% and the Vietnam Dong depreciating significantly.