FTZ’ine August 2021
August 3, 2021
FTZ’ine October 2021
September 30, 2021
16 Years To The Day
Its an eerie anniversary. Category 4 Hurricane Ida slammed into Louisiana’s Gulf Coast on Sunday, exactly 16 years to the day after Hurricane Katrina did the same. The financial impact of this week’s massive storm is expected to be less severe than Katrina, thanks in part to a lower storm surge. Also credit New Orleans’ improved levee system, which held intact this time, featuring massive pumps from FTZ operator/user Patterson Pumps. Even so, trade and the energy industry can expect storm damage impact to be felt for some time.
Peak ocean shipping season is upon us, and so is the Delta variant. The highly transmissible virus form is interfering with the recovery of supply imbalances for normally critical components and suddenly popular products such as semiconductors and laptops. At least one major port in China was forced to curtail operations after a new outbreak.
The new COVID variant has also dampened hopes to fully reopen offices this month, and travelers and cruise lines must once again rethink their plans to return to full operation. Vacation travel seems to have recovered but business travel, especially international business travel, has not, keeping a lid on air freight options. Ocean rates continue to rise despite record profits reported by the steamship lines.
Even paying those high rates hasn’t made getting your merchandise on time a sure thing. There are so many ships waiting to dock on the west coast that LA/LB has run out of offshore anchor locations, and ships are now drifting in assigned areas near Catalina Island. The peak season backlog has spread to the east coast including Savannah and Newark that now have uncharacteristic delays. The mad scramble continues for international traders.
Top Story: Hurricane IDA Trade Impact Just Beginning
Tech Tip
This month’s Tech Tip is actually low-tech: You might be able to use Excel as your ICRS. Many people assume that an FTZ Inventory Control and Recordkeeping System (ICRS) has to be a specialty FTZ Management software connected to the company’s warehouse management or manufacturing planning software. But this isn’t always the case for smaller or simpler zone operations.
If you plan to have only a small amount of non-U.S. sourced goods in the FTZ, it is possible to track those on an Excel spreadsheet. Maybe you have only a couple of imported goods that are high-value and worth the duty-deferral benefit of the zone, and those are received and shipped on a controlled basis. Or perhaps your imports are regular and relatively low volume and easily matched with shipments out of your zone. A simple spreadsheet of all the incoming shipments of those goods that then matches them to outgoing shipments could be structured to provide enough information to your broker and have the admission and entry filings completed.
Another good example of this approach is the case of manufacturing or repair of large items for which some components are admitted to the zone over a long period of time with one large shipment of all of those goods when the item is completed. Again, a spreadsheet tracking all the component receipts that then matches to the completion and shipment of the finished good to the U.S. or even exported, is enough to have the filings completed successfully by a third party. There are other reporting requirements to CBP and the FTZ Board that must also be accommodated to make the approach work.
If you have questions about how such ICRS tracking can be completed, or are wondering if this would work for your scenario, contact us at Info@iscm.co .
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FTZ Staff Activity
FTZ Board Activity
- Swagelok Company received authorization of production activity for finished bar stock within FTZ 33 in Koppel, Pennsylvania. MORE
- BMW Manufacturing Company, LLC received authorization of production activity for additional components of passenger motor vehicles within FTZ 38 in Spartanburg, South Carolina. MORE
- Sheffield Pharmaceuticals, LLC received authorization of production activity for healthcare products within FTZ 208 in New London and Norwich, Connecticut. MORE
- Savannah Yacht Center Inc. submitted a notification of proposed production activity for repair of yachts, sailboats, and boat tenders within FTZ 104 in Savannah, Georgia. MORE
- MSD International GMBH (Puerto Rico Branch) LLC submitted a notification of proposed production activity for additional components of pharmaceuticals within FTZ 7 in Las Piedras, Puerto Rico. MORE
- Treasure Coast Foreign-Trade Zone, Inc. has been designated as the new grantee of FTZ 218 in St. Lucie County, Florida. MORE
- Tesla, Inc. submitted an application for the expansion of subzone 18G in Lathrop, California. MORE
- Mercedes Benz USA, LLC submitted an application for subzone status for its facility within FTZ 98 in Vance, Alabama. MORE
- BMW Manufacturing Company, LLC submitted a notification of proposed production activity for additional components of passenger motor vehicles within FTZ 38 in Spartanburg, South Carolina. MORE
- VIAVI Solutions, Inc. submitted a notification of proposed production activity for optically variable pigments within FTZ 75 in Chandler, Arizona. MORE
- The Greater Mississippi Foreign-Trade Zone, Inc. submitted an application to reorganize and expand the service area of FTZ 158 under the Alternative Site Framework in Vicksburg/Jackson, Mississippi. MORE
- Lely North America, Inc. received authorization of production activity for automated milking and feeding equipment within FTZ 107 in Pella, Iowa. MORE
- Pfizer, Inc. submitted a notification of proposed production activity for mRNA COVID-19 Vaccine within FTZ 43 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. MORE
- Lam Research Corporation received authorization of production activity for additional components of semiconductor production equipment, subassemblies and related parts within FTZ 45 in Tualatin and Sherwood, Oregon. MORE
- Kaiser Premier LLC received authorization of production activity for special purpose vehicles within FTZ 293 in Fort Morgan, Colorado. MORE
- The West Virginia Economic Development Authority withdrew their application to reorganize FTZ 240 under the Alternative Site Framework in Martinsburg, West Virginia. MORE
- The Economic Development Alliance of St. Clair County received approval for the reorganization of FTZ 210 under the Alternative Site Framework in St. Clair County, Michigan. MORE
16 Years To The Day:
Its an eerie anniversary. Category 4 Hurricane Ida slammed into Louisiana’s Gulf Coast on Sunday, exactly 16 years to the day after Hurricane Katrina did the same. The financial impact of this week’s massive storm is expected to be less severe than Katrina, thanks in part to a lower storm surge. Also credit New Orleans’ improved levee system, which held intact this time, featuring massive pumps from FTZ operator/user Patterson Pumps. Even so, trade and the energy industry can expect storm damage impact to be felt for some time.
Peak ocean shipping season is upon us, and so is the Delta variant. The highly-transmissible virus form is interfering with the recovery of supply imbalances for normally critical components and suddenly popular products such as semiconductors and laptops. At least one major port in China was forced to curtail operations after a new outbreak.
The new COVID variant has also dampened hopes to fully reopen offices this month, and travelers and cruise lines must once again rethink their plans to return to full operation. Vacation travel seems to have recovered but business travel, especially international business travel, has not, keeping a lid on air freight options. Ocean rates continue to rise despite record profits reported by the steamship lines.
Even paying those high rates hasn’t made getting your merchandise on time a sure thing. There are so many ships waiting to dock on the west coast that LA/LB has run out of offshore anchor locations, and ships are now drifting in assigned areas near Catalina Island. The peak season backlog has spread to the east coast including Savannah and Newark that now have uncharacteristic delays. The mad scramble continues for international traders.