The Link: LINK

The Story: The German memory chip maker Qimonda filed for bankruptcy protection in a local Munich court yesterday.  The company, which is majority owned by Infineon Technologies AG, sited the precipitous fall in computer memory prices and an inability to obtain favorable credit as reasons for its demise.

The Analysis: So, isn’t this just another major international company filing for bankruptcy?  Don’t we have a few of these every day lately?  Well, yes.  However, Qimonda owns and operates a significant manufacturing facility in Eastern Henrico County.  The facility, which has been in operation since 1997, employed approximately 2,200 Virginia’s.  Qimonda had previously announced that it planned to lay off 1,200 of the 2,200.  With this new announcement, there is no indication of what will happen to the remaining 1,000 employees.

On February 18, 2009 the Port of Long Beach will begin assessing cargo owners a “Clean Trucks Fee”.  These funds will be used to help trucking companies finance the new clean fuel trucks that the Port has required them to utilize.

I can appreciate the Ports efforts to protect and improve the environment.  Plus, the state has mandated a reduction in pollutants from the Port and its customers before any additional state funding can be obtained.  So, I understand the motivation behind the announcement.  However, I question the timing of the additional fee.

Here’s the scenario as I see it:

• The recession has reduced consumer spending and the ports have seen a corresponding reduction in volume.
• The West Coast ports are losing what business is left to the East Coast ports.
• The completion of the Panama Canal expansion will only exacerbate that problem.
• The Ports of Long Beach and LA already levy some of the highest per container fees in the country.
• Finally, a number of their competitive ports are lowering fees to weather the economic storm. (NY/NJ, Charleston, etc.)

Is this really the time when you want to make it more expensive for your clients to use your service and facilities?