Welcome to Dock to Stock,

Here’s a roundup of stories we covered on CrossDock and SKU Hero.

The American Trade Problem

The US has a $279 billion trade deficit with China, $152 billion with Mexico, and with the European Union, it has now grown to $202 billion. But this was always not the case. The United States was a trade surplus nation a few decades back. So what went wrong? How did the US trade deficit skyrocket, and what’s driving it? And most importantly, are deficits good or bad?

We have answered it all in the latest issue of CrossDock. Check out the full story here.

Holy guacamole 🥑

Do you enjoy your avocado toast? Love that creamy guacamole that makes your game days epic? Well, you need to thank the neighbors in the South — Mexico — that supply 90% of the avocados the US consumes.

According to the USDA, the average American now consumes over eight pounds of avocados each year. But here’s the twist: three decades ago, Mexico didn’t export a single avocado to the U.S. So, what changed? How did avocados go from being a local fruit to an American obsession?

Here’s the full story - The journey of Avocados from Mexico

The retail dichotomy 🛍️

In 2024 over 7,300 retail stores closed across the United States — the highest number of store closures in the US since the pandemic. This includes some of the big chain retailers, too. However, the story is completely different for the Big Three of American retail — Walmart, Costco, and Amazon. In 2024, these retail giants witnessed stellar sales and ended the year on a high note.

In this issue of CrossDock, we delve deeper into this disparity. We break down the strategies and operational decisions that helped the Big Retailers grow tremendously and explain the problems behind the rampant retail store closures.

Link to the full story - The retail dichotomy

CrossDock's Weekly Dispatch

From a tentative agreement between US longshoremen and USMX to legal battles involving Nippon, US Steel, and the Biden administration, pivotal moments that could change supply chains unfolded in the first few weeks of the new year.

To give you the TL;DR version of the latest happenings in the supply chain, retail, logistics, and e-commerce world, we are back with our weekly news curation. Check out last week’s important news stories.

Check out CrossDock Weekly Dispatch

🇬🇱 Going Green’land’ 🚢

Global superpowers, including the United States, China, and Russia, want to control Greenland. But why Greenland? How did an island that’s mostly covered with ice and has a population of 36,000 become the coveted prize for which countries are battling?

In the latest issue of CrossDock, we dive deep into the growing interest in Greenland and how it is poised to become one of the most lucrative regions for shipping and logistics in the future.

Check out why global superpowers are competing for Greenland

Thank you for reading. We’ll see you at the next edition!