Elgin Area Chamber Of Commerce: Boeing Lands More Freighter Orders, Foot Traffic Rises At Nike Stores, US Current Account Deficit Wi

Elgin IL

23 December, 2021

2:32 AM

Description

Press release from the Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce: December 22, 2021 Boeing Lands More Freighter Orders Boeing scored another win for its Washington state factory with delivery company UPS ordering extra air freighters as e-commerce sales drive demand for these aircraft. The Chicago-based company announced Tuesday that UPS bought 19 Boeing 767-300 extended range planes for delivery between 2023 and 2025. Boeing has factories in Everett and Renton, Washington, and a third in Charleston, South Carolina. The 767 is assembled in Everett. In its announcement, Boeing noted that the latest order adds to a record-breaking year for its freighter orders. It has 80 orders for the new aircraft and 80 orders from aircraft converted from passenger to freighter. Last month during the Dubai Air Show, both Boeing and its European rival Airbus reported that demand for air freighters has accelerated because of the pandemic-induced rise in e-commerce sales. Retailers and other companies also have leaned on air freighters to deliver product because of shipping back logs at ports. Boeing forecast that it would need to convert 1,720 passenger planes to freighters to keep up with demand. It is setting up conversion lines at its hangar London's Gatwick Airport and at KF Aerospace's commercial maintenance, repair and overhaul facility in British Columbia. Foot Traffic Rises at Nike Stores Foot traffic into Nike stores nearly reached pre-pandemic levels during the most recent quarter. The global athletic apparel company, which has been opening smaller format "Live" stores with local themes, reported double-digit sales growth in the quarter that ended Nov. 30. But overall revenues were up just 1% to $11.4 billion compared to the same time last year. A drop in sales in China, Asia Pacific and Latin America offset gains in North America sales that increased from $2.5 billion to $2.85 billion. Nike also has been dealing with supply chain issues, primarily in Vietnam. "In total, Vietnam factory closures caused us to cancel production of roughly 130 million units due to three months of lost production volume and several months to ramp back to full production," Matthew Friend, the company's chief executive officer, said on Nike's earnings call. Friend said the company is confident that its supply chain will be normal again as it heads into its fiscal 2023, which begins in June next year. US Current Account Deficit Widens Companies trying to replenish supplies pushed the gap between U.S. imports and exports to a 15-year high in the third quarter. The Commerce Department reported that the U.S. current account, which measures the flow of goods, services and investment into and out of the country, showed the deficit of exports to imports growing 8.3% in the third quarter to $214.8 billion. That's the biggest deficit by total dollar amount since the same quarter in 2006. The second quarter deficit was revised upward from $190 billion to $198 billion. Imports and exports have been growing since bottoming out in the second quarter of 2020. Imports have exceeded 2019 levels while exports are about where they were in 2019. Source: www.CoStar.com This press release was produced by the Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce. The views expressed here are the author's own.