April Zobel

The Andersons Inc.

Profit Center Manager, Export Containers

April Zobel is the profit center manager, Export Containers for The Andersons Inc., a diversified agricultural company conducting business across North America in the grain, ethanol, plant nutrient, and rail sectors. Zobel oversees the logistics and freight activities for the company’s grain and feeds ingredient export program, a program that exports 100,000 TEU annually. She joined The Andersons upon the company’s January 2019 acquisition of Lansing Trade Group, one of the largest US agricultural exporters. Zobel began her logistics career in 2005 with DHL in Des Moines, Iowa, and subsequently worked for Netflix, MachineryLink Logistics, and Touton USA. She joined Lansing’s export program in 2013 and currently sits on the board of directors on the New York Shipping Exchange (NYSHEX). She holds a bachelor’s in corporate communication from Simpson College of Indianola.

Sessions With April Zobel

Tuesday, 1 March

  • 04:00pm - 04:45pm (EST) / 02/mar/2022 12:00 am - 02/mar/2022 12:45 am

    A New Era of Ocean Carrier Relationship Management: The Export View

    US exporters had a bittersweet year in 2021. Pandemic-induced congestion at US ports raised their profile like never before but at the expense of missed opportunities to ship goods to markets hungry for the range of US-made commercial and industrial products. Will the attention turn into substantive action, either through a change in the tenor of commercial relationships with shippers or the more heavy-handed approach of revisions to the US Shipping Act meant to protect US export interests? Time will tell. In the meantime, exporters are in the uncomfortable position of working with wildly profitable ocean carriers and trying to convince them to prioritize their lower-profit, backhaul cargo over cycling empty containers back to Asia as quickly as possible. The operational pressures on exporters are also numerous, from an inability to secure critical equipment and difficulty in scheduling appointments for laden export containers to shrinking earliest return and vessel cutoff windows. In this session, two experienced exporters will guide attendees on how to productively navigate this seemingly insurmountable set of challenges.  

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