Supply Chain Brain

The AI push is being led by giant port operations company DP World, which handles nearly 40% of the nation’s containerized imports and exports through its terminals in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Fremantle, and around a tenth of global container traffic. The Maritime Union of Australia has been holding up automation at the Dubai-based company’s ports in Australia for 18 months as the plans go through safety approvals and a nine-month consultation with the union.

A handful of oil tankers appeared to transit through the Strait of Hormuz on July 8, while at least one other U-turned away from the waterway, as President Trump’s declaration that a ceasefire with Iran was over raises the prospect of a renewed bout of conflict around the world’s most important energy chokepoint. Two oil tankers made their way into the Persian Gulf through Hormuz overnight using a route close to Oman’s coastline, while another headed out by sailing close to Iran.

Three ships were attacked in the Strait of Hormuz, heightening unease among shipowners and testing a U.S.-Iran agreement to halt attacks. The Al Rekayyat gas carrier was struck in the early hours of July 7, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue. Separately, a person familiar with the matter said that a Saudi crude oil tanker was damaged while leaving Hormuz, without providing further details.

David Scheffrahn, vice president of sales North America with Ocado, tells us how warehouses can balance scale and resiliency in a world of uncertainty. Warehouse operators are continuing to invest in automation despite ongoing uncertainty around tariffs and trade policy, but they’re placing more of an emphasis on flexibility than they ever have. As Scheffrahn notes, companies still need the productivity and efficiency benefits that automation can provide.

Canadian provinces Ontario and Alberta are proposing a new pipeline that would carry oil east from the country's western producers. According to the Associated Press, the pipeline would run more than 2,000 miles from Hardisty, Alberta, to Sarnia, Ontario, while carrying as many as 500,000 barrels of oil daily, with the potential to boost that capacity to 800,000 barrels.

Cargo theft is no longer just a problem of broken seals, stolen trailers and opportunistic theft on the roadside. That world still exists, but it is no longer the main story. The real shift is happening upstream, inside the digital workflows on which logistics depends every day: quoting, carrier onboarding, load boards, document exchange and payment. That is where fraud is now hiding. The scale of the problem is rising fast.

Modern supply chains increasingly depend on complex microelectronics embedded into everything from industrial systems and logistics infrastructure to enterprise IT and connected operational technologies. These deeply layered hardware and software ecosystems consist of processors, firmware, embedded controllers and various third-party components sourced across global networks.

Date: September 1, 2026 Time: 11:00 AM ET Live Webinar: 1 hour Webinar Description Did you know that supply chain organizations are quietly losing 5 cents of every single dollar just to slow decision-making? When disruption hits, the clock starts ticking. The gap between spotting a problem and doing something about it is what we call the "latency tax" - and it’s draining your bottom line.

The U.S. Treasury Department has revoked a temporary authorization that had allowed for the sale of Iranian oil, following a new round of attacks on vessels moving through the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. had issued what was supposed to be a 60-day authorization in late June, as part of a tenuous peace agreement with Iran. The agreement had required Iran to allow free and open passage through the strait over that period.

According to a survey of 292 Chinese supply chain and logistics executives from DP World, diversifying sourcing was the most popular strategic change for 2026 at 58%, followed by near-shoring at 38%, friend-shoring at 36%, and boosting inventories at 32%. That has China's supply chain leaders looking to prioritize a "more layered approach to resilience," by bringing on more suppliers and increasing route options to get better regional flexibility and account for changes in demand.