@Risk

The food supplies of Afghanistan and nine African states are those most at risk and vulnerable to rising costs, based on results of the Food Security Risk Index 2010, released last week by Maplecroft.

The Index uses 12 criteria developed in collaboration with the World Food Programme to evaluate risks to the supply of basic food staples for 163 countries. These criteria include: the nutritional and health status of populations, cereal production and imports, GDP per capita, natural disasters, conflict, and the effectiveness of government.

Following these calculations, Maplecroft rated Afghanistan as least secure in food supplies, while also ranking the African nations of the Democratic Republic of Congo (2), Burundi (3), Eritrea (4), Sudan (5), Ethiopia (6), Angola (7), Liberia (8), Chad (9) and Zimbabwe (10) as “extreme risk.” In all, African nations make up 36 of the 50 nations most at risk in the index. (more…)

Over the past few months, we’ve faced historic disastrous events involving the environment. Pesky ash clouds . . . a catastrophic oil spill . . . and now there’s a withering severe drought in Russia that threatens to create shock waves throughout the agro-business sector.

Is it time to be on the lookout for yet another? Some experts think so, and they’re warning that upcoming solar storms could be a new threat to global supply chains. (more…)

In April, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a report on rare earth materials in the supply chain of the Department of Defense. The report, commissioned by Congress, documented that China now dominates the supply of rare earth materials crucial to the nation’s defense, computer and renewable energy sectors.

In fact, the GAO estimates that China now supplies virtually all –or more precisely, a whopping 97 percent –of the world’s rare earth supply, and in the report the agency clearly voices its concerns that China could someday reduce the supply.

“The GAO report is a timely warning that the US needs to ramp up its domestic production of both light and heavy rare earths immediately,” US Rare Earths, Inc. Chief Executive Officer Edward Cowle said at the time.

But, perhaps even “immediately” isn’t soon enough? (more…)

After months of working with the cargo and aviation industries, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced last week that it has met a key requirement of the 9/11 Act by screening 100 percent of air cargo on domestic passenger aircraft.

That’s welcome news, considering Congress had established an August 1, 2010 deadline for this requirement.

To meet the mandate, TSA created the Certified Cargo Screening Program (CCSP), which allows certified facilities across the country to screen cargo before it reaches the airport. Prior to the August 1 deadline, over 900 facilities became CCSP certified, and according to the TSA, this distributed screening effort has enabled over half of the more than 9 million pounds of cargo loaded onboard passenger-carrying planes each day to be prescreened, avoiding potential bottlenecks at airports. (This is an important point, because as you may recall, TSA has been criticized for not developing strategies sufficient to prevent supply chain disruptions that would disturb the flow of commerce. )

The CCSP initiative is part of TSA’s multi- layered approach to air cargo security. The agency’s program now includes: (more…)

Some economic indicators say we’re in a rebound. Others suggest the recovery has reached a plateau. Based on the latest quarterly results from the MFGWatch survey, I’d say only one thing is certain: there’s still quite a remarkable level of instability out there, and this is no time to ease up on your strategies for supplier risk management.

For example, consider this finding:

Over half (51 percent) of North American manufacturers participating in the MFGWatch survey said they’ve experienced a significant supply chain disruption in the past three months –that’s up from 44 percent in the previous quarter, and marks the fourth straight quarter that more than one-third of survey participants have suffered a disruption.

In addition, for the fourth straight quarter, over one-third of small and medium-sized manufacturers (42 percent) said they’ve received inquiries or work from companies suffering from supply chain disruptions.

The survey results also show that large manufacturers continue to express optimism, but it seems that unfortunately, all that optimism is failing to manifest itself. For instance: (more…)