Zepol Corp., a provider of trade intelligence, has moved into phase two of its U.S. export bill-of-lading database, known as TradeIQ Export.

Aspen Technology Inc., a vendor of software and services for the process industries, has released an update to its aspenONE suite.

Federal contractors are going to be hearing the words "supply chain" a lot over the next 18 months. Having a certifiably secure supply chain will eliminate a potential mark against your selection as a source, just as having the appropriate contract vehicles eliminates friction.

Representatives from the Belarusian and Italian Commission on International Road Transport met in Rome where an agreement was reached to increase bilateral quotas on road haulage in 2013 and 2014. The parties also discussed the subject of intermodal transport and the prospect of increased use of bilateral communication, and increasing the flow of freight between Europe and Asia.

The total capacity of Iranian ports has increased by 80 million tons during the past eight years, reaching 184 million tons, IRNA quoted Iranian roads and urban development Minister Ali Nikzad as saying.

Plans to increase coal rail freight rates by 5.7 percent across India have been outlined in the national Railway Budget 2013-14. India's Railways Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal published proposals to raise the freight rate on coal from Rs 685.10 per tonne to Rs 724.80 - a jump of 5.79 percent.

The latest communication from the Global Air Cargo Advisory Group (GACAG), a body which packs in all the heavy hitters involved in the supply chain, from forwarding agents to airlines, makes very plain the views of the air cargo industry regarding the recently stalled Doha Round of trade negotiations held under the auspices of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and specifically designed to lower trade barriers and simplify processes, particularly to allow two way market access to developing countries.

According to a new survey of 600 executives from Deloitte "” "The Ripple Effect: How Manufacturing and Retail Executives View the Growing Challenge of Supply Chain Risk" "” global executives are increasingly concerned about the growing risks to their supply chains and costly negative impacts such as margin erosion and inability to keep up with demand.

DHL Supply Chain will invest $52.5m over the next few years to further strengthen its position in Indonesia. By 2015, the company plans to increase its transportation fleet by over 100 percent up from its fleet of 370 vehicles at present and grow its staff strength by over 70 percent from its current base of some 2,250 employees.