Supply Lines
President Joe Biden on Tuesday is scheduled to visit the Port of Baltimore, where he’ll tout $147 million in grants for the major East Coast

President Joe Biden on Tuesday is scheduled to visit the Port of Baltimore, where he’ll tout $147 million in grants for the major East Coast hub’s efforts to decarbonize its cargo handling operations.

Those funds are just part of the $3 billion heading to ports across the country. Biden will use the occasion to show support for members of longshore unions, who are concerned that port upgrades will bring job-replacing automation. (You’ll recall that’s the main sticking point for dockworkers at East and Gulf Coast ports that led to a three-day strike in early October before a three-month extension was announced to continue talks.)

The federal money “will support the purchase of battery-electric and hydrogen-powered human-operated and human-maintained equipment,” the White House said in a statement ahead of Biden’s remarks. It added that the nation’s ports “are the lynchpin of our nation’s supply chains,” employing more than 100,000 union workers.

Read More: A $2 Trillion Reckoning Looms as Ports Become Geopolitical Pawns

The grants are part of the Environmental Protection Agencies Clean Ports program, created by the Inflation Reduction Act. (On the Terminal, click here to read the full story from Bloomberg Law.)

These awards will cover “over 1,500 units of cargo handling equipment, 1,000 drayage trucks, 10 locomotives and 20 vessels, as well as shore power systems for ocean-going vessels, battery-electric and hydrogen vehicle charging and fueling infrastructure, and solar power generation,” the White House said.

Read More: Biggest US Ports Chase Elusive Share of Asia’s Shifting Exports

The Port of Los Angeles, which has a head start on decarbonization efforts, is slated to get more than $400 million from the Clean Ports program to help with its goal to  convert forklifts, tractors and cranes to zero emissions by 2030. The port and private-sector partners will match the grant with an additional $236 million, according to the Port of LA.

California’s Fuel Rules

The funds announced today add to more than $1 billion already spent on decarbonization at the Port of LA and the Port of Long Beach next door.

Such investments may help the Southern California ports meet a state mandate to phase out diesel-powered drayage trucks — the 23,000 or so short-haul semis that are supposedly going to be all electric or hydrogen-powered by 2035. Critics have argued there’s no way the cleaner fleet will be ready, citing the $500,000-plus cost for new zero-emission trucks and the lack of charging infrastructure.

The funding is also part of a defensive shift to mitigate US cybersecurity “threats and vulnerabilities” to the supply chain, including from the more than 200 ship-to-shore cranes that are made in China and can be serviced and programmed remotely.

Read More: US to Bolster Cybersecurity at Ports Operating China-Made Cranes

The White House expects the Clean Ports program funds to increase demand for American-manufactured electric cargo handling equipment like cranes, forklifts and yard tractors by at least six-fold, according to the statement.

Laura Curtis in Los Angeles

Click here for more of Bloomberg.com’s most-read stories about trade, supply chains and shipping.

Charted Territory

A lost decade | Years of aircraft delays from Boeing and Airbus are cascading through the global aviation industry, forcing airlines to curb expansion plans and keep their old and inefficient jets on expensive life support. Call it a lost decade of output that’s hit hardest among narrowbody jets, the backbone of the global fleet. Some 3,700 single-aisle planes that were expected to arrive between 2019 and 2028 won’t be built within the 10-year span, estimates Courtney Miller, founder of aviation forecasting firm Visual Approach Analytics.

Today’s Must Reads

  • Apple’s iPhone exports from India jumped by a third in the six months through September, underscoring its push to expand manufacturing in the country and reduce dependence on China.
  • The Bank for International Settlements is debating whether to shut down a pilot cross-border payments platform after Russia‘s President Vladimir Putin identified the underlying technology as a tool to circumvent sanctions and potentially undermine the dollar’s dominance in the global financial system.
  • A second presidential term for Donald Trump would likely bring about extreme protectionism, a large negative population shock and a surge of debt issuance to fund “totally undisciplined fiscal policy,” a top Canadian economist warned.
  • JPMorgan says the US is facing significant strains on its water supply that have the potential to harm the world’s largest economy and eat into corporate valuations. AI data centers and semiconductor manufacturing are adding to the stress. 
  • GE said more than a dozen suppliers are involved in the disruptions that have slowed delivery of its jet engines and resulted in renewed headaches for airplane makers and airlines.
  • The Biden administration finalized restrictions on investments by US individuals and companies into advanced technology in China, including semiconductors, quantum computing and artificial intelligence. The framework takes effect Jan. 2.
  • President Xi Jinping urged China to project more soft power, underscoring his campaign to make the nation more influential globally and challenge the US-led order.

Coming Up

Bloomberg Supply Chain Intelligence Webinar Series: Artificial intelligence technology has been with us for decades, but the recent release of ChatGPT and other LLMs have transformed how we use and view AI at work and at home. Is AI ready to be deployed in supply chain management and what do I need to know about this powerful technology? Join us on Nov. 6 when host Matthew Ekroth sits down with Risto Miikkulainen, VP of AI Research at Cognizant AI Labs, for a fireside chat on this important topic. Click here to register.

On the Bloomberg Terminal

  • The Shanghai Containerized Freight Index climbed 6% sequentially to 2,185 in the week ended Oct. 25 — the first gain in 10 weeks — but Bloomberg Intelligence expects it will likely lose ground through the rest of the fourth quarter amid the industry’s slow season.
  • CMA CGM signed a joint venture with Marsa Maroc to equip and operate a section of Morocco’s Nador West Med terminal. The French container line says it wants to be a major player in country’s supply chain.
  • French company already owns a Casablanca terminal and part of Eurogate Tangiers
  • Run SPLC after an equity ticker on Bloomberg to show critical data about a company's suppliers, customers and peers.
  • Use the AHOY function to track global commodities trade flows.
  • See DSET CHOKE for a dataset to monitor shipping chokepoints. 
  • For freight dashboards, see {BI RAIL}, {BI TRCK} and {BI SHIP} and {BI 3PLS}
  • Click HERE for automated stories about supply chains.
  • On the Bloomberg Terminal, type NH FWV for FreightWaves content.
  • See BNEF for BloombergNEF’s analysis of clean energy, advanced transport, digital industry, innovative materials, and commodities.

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