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Supply
Oil prices rose over 1% Monday after Libya declared force majeure at several oilfields, including its biggest, due to political protests.
In mid-morning trading today, WTI futures were down 4.7% at $103.10/bbl and Brent was down 4.5% at $108.10/bbl. U.S. natural gas was down 3.6% at $7.54/MMBtu, remaining near its highest in over a decade:
Yesterday’s national average price for a gallon of U.S. gas dropped to $4.08, roughly 19 cents lower than a month ago but $1.21 higher than a year ago:
Average heating oil prices in the U.S. ended the winter season at $5.13 per gallon, more than $2 higher than last year amid elevated demand and declining inventories:
U.S. shale production from major basins is set to rise 132,000 bpd in May to 8.648 million bpd, the largest monthly increase of the pandemic, according to the government.
The U.S. Energy Department will soon unveil plans for a $6 billion program aimed at keeping aging nuclear plants in service following a string of reactor retirements last year.
China’s plans for wind farms in Tibet could provide enough electricity to power the U.K., Germany and France combined, officials say. The nation is already on track to install 140 GW of clean energy capacity this year, the most in the world.
A merchant ship carrying up to 1,000 tonnes of oil sank off the northern coast of Africa Sunday, authorities said.
Supply Chain
More supply chain news related to lockdowns in China:
At least 373 million people covering roughly 40% of the nation’s GDP are under lockdowns that started April 2.
More than 470 bulk cargo ships were queued up outside Chinese ports last week, according to Bloomberg.
Trans-Atlantic westbound air freight volume rose 25% in March as worsening port bottlenecks on the U.S. East Coast forced more ocean importers into the air.
Port Houston handled a record 308,557 TEUs in the first quarter, up 20% from a year ago.
Among major less-than-truckload carriers, the average fuel surcharge rose from 28.3% in the fourth quarter to 42.1% in March.
Micro-fulfillment centers will proliferate to over 7,300 by 2030, up from 86 at the end of 2021, led by grocery retailers looking to expand same-day delivery services, according to analysts.
Global PC shipments fell 5.1% in the first quarter, the first decline after two years of double-digit growth.
India is emerging as Apple’s top manufacturing target in Asia outside of China, with its share of the tech firm’s supplier base expected to grow from 1.3% in 2021 to up to 7% this year.
Chinese aluminum imports rose 16% by value in the first quarter, despite volumes declining by almost a fifth.
Top U.S. officials are holding a week of high-level meetings with other nations as part of ongoing efforts to address global food shortages caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The latest concerns come from Asia, where rice farmers are cutting back harvests amid a shortage of fertilizer.
Domestic Markets
The U.S. reported 54,009 new COVID-19 infections and 281 virus fatalities Monday.
It is increasingly likely that millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses that the U.S. planned to export to low-income countries will expire, barring new funding from Congress. At the same time, small businesses are criticizing a proposal that would redirect unused pandemic aid for the purpose.
More than 8,000 employees at 15 northern California healthcare facilities are planning a one-day strike next Monday to protest staffing shortages and unsafe working conditions.
Verizon boosted its starting wage to $20 an hour, a response to continued tightness in the U.S. job market.
Apple employees seeking to unionize a high-profile store at New York’s Grand Central Terminal are seeking minimum pay of $30 per hour, according to a just-launched website.
The average U.S. mortgage rate hit 5% yesterday, the highest in over a decade. Surveyed Americans think rates will rise as high as 6.7% a year from now and 8.2% in three years.
A key index of U.S. homebuilder sentiment fell to 77 this month, the fourth decline in a row and the lowest reading in over a year and a half.
Environmentalists are alarmed at growing mountains of plastic waste caused by Hong Kong’s zero-COVID-19 strategy and its heavy use of single-use plastics for safety and barrier protection.
Almost 100% of Indonesians on the nation’s most populous island of Java have COVID-19 antibodies either from prior infection or vaccination, new data shows.
The World Bank reduced its forecast for global economic growth this year from 4.1% to 3.2%, citing Russia’s invasion. Russia’s economy will decline over 11%, the group said.
U.S. economic officials warned of growing isolation for nations that maintain business ties to Russia.
Russia’s central bank made a rare public disclosure that it has failed to find non-hostile currencies in which to place most of its sanctioned reserves.
Brazil’s government failed to publish a widely followed economic survey for the third consecutive week as striking public workers, including those at the Central Bank, demand wage increases of up to 26% to counter rampant inflation. Average real wages in the nation are down 8.8% during the pandemic.
Stellantis and LG Energy are teaming up to build a $4 billion electric vehicle battery plant in Windsor, Ontario, that will be one of North America’s largest when it is completed in 2024.