DHL Opens Mideast's Largest Robotic Sorting Center in Israel

Workers stand at a DHL robotic package processing site in Lod, Israel January 11, 2022. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
Workers stand at a DHL robotic package processing site in Lod, Israel January 11, 2022. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
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DHL Opens Mideast's Largest Robotic Sorting Center in Israel

Workers stand at a DHL robotic package processing site in Lod, Israel January 11, 2022. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
Workers stand at a DHL robotic package processing site in Lod, Israel January 11, 2022. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

Courier services company DHL Express has opened the Middle East's largest robotic sorting center in central Israel, the company said on Wednesday.

Had it not made the 250 million shekel ($80 million) investment in the facility near Ben Gurion Airport, the company said it would not have been able to keep up with the pace of orders in Israel.

A hundred conveyor belts sort 20,000 packages an hour, roughly five times more than before, matching the most advanced centers in Europe, said Yair Bitton, CEO of DHL Express Israel.

A cargo plane can now be handled in 50 minutes instead of four hours, Reuters reported. The automated sorting system requires 70% less manpower, so employees have been trained for other roles, DHL said.

"When we planned this facility five years ago we thought this facility would be good for the next 20 years. Unfortunately, or fortunately, when finishing it we see that it's good maybe for the next five," Bitton said.

That has already led the company to explore other sites and solutions as well.

Israel's economy was expected to have grown about 7% in 2021 and was on course for a record year with recent data estimating exports - a key economic driver - reached as much as $140 billion, up 18% from the year before.



Trump Suggests Fed May Be Ready to Lower Interest Rates

US President Donald Trump and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speak during a tour of the Federal Reserve Board building, which is currently undergoing renovations, in Washington, DC, US, July 24, 2025. (Reuters)
US President Donald Trump and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speak during a tour of the Federal Reserve Board building, which is currently undergoing renovations, in Washington, DC, US, July 24, 2025. (Reuters)
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Trump Suggests Fed May Be Ready to Lower Interest Rates

US President Donald Trump and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speak during a tour of the Federal Reserve Board building, which is currently undergoing renovations, in Washington, DC, US, July 24, 2025. (Reuters)
US President Donald Trump and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speak during a tour of the Federal Reserve Board building, which is currently undergoing renovations, in Washington, DC, US, July 24, 2025. (Reuters)

President Donald Trump said on Friday he had a good meeting with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and got the impression that the head of the US central bank might be ready to lower interest rates.

The two men met on Thursday when Trump made a rare visit to the US central bank to tour the ongoing renovation of two buildings at its headquarters in Washington.

The White House has criticized the cost of the project, and the president and Powell sparred over the issue during the visit.

Trump also took the opportunity to again publicly call on Powell to slash rates immediately.

"We had a very good meeting ... I think we had a very good meeting on interest rates," the president told reporters on Friday.

"He (Powell) said, 'Congratulations, the country is doing really well,' and I got that to mean that I think he's going to start recommending lower rates because of that conversation," Trump said.

The Fed is widely expected to leave its benchmark interest rate in the 4.25%-4.50% range at the conclusion of a two-day policy meeting next week. Powell has said the Fed should wait for more data before adjusting rates.

The visibly tense exchange between Trump and Powell at the Fed's massive construction site on Thursday marked an escalation of White House pressure on the central bank as well as Trump's efforts to get Powell to lower rates.

The US central bank said on Friday it was "grateful" for Trump's encouragement to complete the renovation of its buildings in Washington and that it "looked forward" to seeing the project through to completion.

Trump, who called Powell a "numbskull" earlier this week for failing to heed the White House's demand for a large reduction in borrowing costs, also said on Thursday he did not intend to fire the Fed chief, as he has frequently suggested he would.