In another sign of China's economic slowdown, shipyards are now closing and half-finished vessels lie rusting. Prosperity is receding like the tide, and thousands of laborers have lost their jobs.

In the first half of 2012, amid strife and turmoil across much of the industry, Saudi Airlines Cargo carried 251,500 tonnes of cargo. The number is a 26-percent, year-over-year, increase in activity. Cargo revenue rose 25 percent, year-over-year, during the first six months of 2012.

CaroTrans, a non-vessel operating common carrier and ocean freight consolidator, is offering a new, direct less-than-containerload (LCL) export service from Seattle to Tokyo.

Manufacturing in July expanded at its slowest pace since late 2010, hobbled by weak overseas demand for American goods, though a rise in domestic orders helped cushion the blow.

time:matters, a provider of expedited logistics by air, rail and road, has expanded its service network through cooperation with Germanwings, a subsidiary of Lufthansa.

Last year saw record revenues and employment among the world's biggest construction companies, according to International Construction magazine's Top 200 ranking, although profitability was poorer than in 2010.

The U.S. arm of Air Menzies International (AMI) has launched click2ship Imports, the import version of its online, door-to-door express wholesale service for air freight.

In releasing its first mid-year global outlook, D+B suggests that the second half of the yer will be challenging, but there will be an overall climate of improving U.S. and global business health.