March 11, 2022 • Posted in Daily Bulletin

COVID-19 Bulletin: March 11

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Supply

  • More oil news related to the war in Europe:
    • Oil prices settled 2% lower on Thursday, the second day of declines, after Russia said it would fulfill existing contracts and traders speculated that recent supply fears are overblown. 
    • Energy futures posted their largest high-to-low range on record this week. In mid-morning trading today, WTI futures were up 3.0% at $109.20/bbl, Brent was up 2.6% at $112.20/bbl and U.S. natural gas was up 2.3% at $4.74/MMBtu.
    • Norwegian oil major Equinor is following BP, Shell and TotalEnergies in halting purchases of Russian oil as it winds down operations in the country. The producer said it would raise production in its normally slow summer maintenance season this year. 
    • The White House is facing rising pressure to suspend the 18-cent federal gas tax after the national average price jumped to $4.32 a gallon Thursday, up 7 cents from Wednesday’s record. San Francisco Bay has the highest average price at $5.75 a gallon
    • Prices for U.S. distillates — including diesel fuel and heating oil — are at their highest level since 2014, boosted by high demand for trucking and rail freight transport: 
Increased demand and low inventories drive U.S. distillate prices higher
The Countries Sitting on the Largest Oil Reserves
  • More top-ranking U.S. officials are endorsing natural gas as a potential benefit for the climate. 
  • Exxon Mobil is in the final round of interviewing bankers for a potential sale of up to $5 billion in mature North Dakota shale assets, the latest in a string of aggressive moves to cut costs and boost shareholder returns. 
  • The U.S. administration earmarked $36 million for research into advanced nuclear waste disposal for when the country’s next-generation reactors come online in the 2030s. 
  • Coal India, the world’s largest miner, is seeking net-zero emissions within the next four years. 
  • A Bay Area startup claims to have found a way to break up captured CO2 into atomic bits that can be re-formed into plastics and fuel products. 

Supply Chain

Domestic Markets

  • The U.S. reported 48,318 new COVID-19 infections and 1,645 virus fatalities Thursday. 
  • Roughly 98% of Americans can ditch face masks, according to the CDC’s new guidance. 
  • One in four Californians has had COVID-19, new data shows, even as case counts are down over 60% from two weeks ago. 
  • The U.S. administration extended mask mandates for travel on planes, trains and other public transit by another month to April 18
  • Ride-hailing companies are facing pushback for strict masking policies in the face of a growing number of cities that have dropped the requirement. 
  • Public schools with masking requirements saw 23% fewer COVID-19 infections among students and staff, according to one CDC study. 
  • U.S. inflation-adjusted weekly earnings dropped 2.3% last month from a year ago.  
  • Consumer prices in New York City rose just 5.1% last month compared to the record 7.9% rate nationwide. 
Inflation Keeps Climbing at 40-Year High
  • The U.S. Senate passed a $1.5 trillion package to fund the federal government for the current fiscal year, with the measure now heading to the White House for approval. 
  • Lower pandemic spending pushed the U.S. budget deficit down by more than half during the first five months of the latest fiscal year to $475.6 billion, the lowest since 2018. 
  • Entry-level salaries at some of the top U.S. banking firms are surging on the perfect storm of an economic rebound and a historically tight labor market. 
  • U.S. household net worth jumped 3.7% in the fourth quarter to an all-time high $150 trillion, fueled by rising stock prices and higher home values.  
  • The average U.S. 30-year mortgage rate hit 3.85% this week, its first increase in three weeks. 
  • An index of U.S. rent prices rose 0.6% in February, the fastest rise in three decades. In Manhattan alone, prices are up nearly 30% year over year.
  • The U.S. population rose 5% the past decade to 323.2 million, higher than the official census count due to the millions of uncounted people during the first few months of the pandemic. 
  • The SEC will vote March 21 on a landmark measure that would require U.S.-listed companies to provide detailed climate-risk disclosures to investors.  

International Markets

Withdrawal Symptoms: Employees and the Russia Exodus

At M. Holland

  • M. Holland’s 3D Printing group offers a rapid response alternative for producing selected parts where resin availability is tight. For more information, email our 3D Printing team.
  • Market Expertise: M. Holland offers a host of resources to clients, prospects and suppliers across nine strategic markets.

For all COVID-19 updates and notices, please refer to the M. Holland website.

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