M. Holland will be charging a fee to recover the reinstated Superfund Excise Tax for applicable U.S. orders starting July 1, 2022. Clients will be notified of details next week. Learn more about the tax in this Plastics News article.
M. Holland is sponsoring AMI’s Polymers in Cables on June 28-29 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This conference covers the latest technical developments, manufacturing solutions and trends in the wire and cable industry. M. Holland is also hosting the event’s networking reception on June 28 at 5:30 pm ET!
If you’re attending AMI’s Polymers in Cables in Philadelphia, mark your schedule for M. Holland’s technical session:
Brent futures rose 0.9% in a volatile trading Monday, while WTI rose half-a-percent in subdued trading due to the Juneteenth holiday.
In mid-day trading today, WTI futures were up 1.4% at $111.10/bbl, Brent was up 0.8% at $115.10/bbl, and U.S. natural gas was down 1.2% at $6.86/MMBtu.
The average U.S. gasoline price fell slightly for a second day on Monday to $4.98 a gallon but will likely rise heading into the Fourth of July weekend. The White House continues to weigh pausing the 18.4-cent federal gas tax to bring down prices, which could take effect before the holiday.
As American refiners deal with tightening supplies of blendstocks to make premium gasoline, flows from Asia to the U.S hit the highest level in three months.
Liquid fuels production in Brazil, Canada and China will rise this year and next, while the U.S. will provide the bulk of overall growth in non-OPEC petroleum production:
Petrobras’ chief executive resigned Monday amid lawmaker backlash over the producer’s decision to raise fuel prices last week.
Egypt and Saudi Arabia signed 14 investment deals valued at $7.7 billion, including for renewable energy and green hydrogen projects.
Supply Chain
The continental U.S. will see its third straight week of excessive heat, with record-high temperatures forecast for hotspots in the South and Southeast.
A forest fire in New Jersey is on track to become the state’s largest wildfire in 15 years after nearly tripling in size to 13,500 acres since Sunday.
More ocean carriers are adding new services as they adjust to the shift of cargo from the U.S. West Coast to less congested ports on the Gulf and East coasts.
Global port congestion will continue until at least early 2023 and keep spot freight rates elevated, as logistics executives urge charterers to switch to long-term contracts to manage costs.
Construction projects across the U.S. are running short on labor just as funding from the government’s massive $1 trillion infrastructure package begins to kick in.
Australia’s biggest building manufacturers are cutting back operations, hiking prices and considering offshoring to manage surging energy costs.
Volvo Trucks is doing early testing on hydrogen fuel-cell trucks with a claimed range of over 620 miles.
Anheuser-Busch InBev, maker of Corona and Bud Light, plans to raise prices and adjust sizes to combat rising supply costs.
GM raised the pre-order price for its Hummer electric pickup truck by $6,250 to offset rising costs.
Nineteen of the world’s 20 fastest growing semiconductor firms are from China, compared to just eight at the same time last year.
Over 70,000 people rallied in Belgium’s capital Brussels on Monday to protest the soaring costs of fuel and food, while strikes at transport services brought the city to a standstill.
New COVID-19 cases in Florida appear to be plateauing from a recent surge, while virus hospitalizations jumped 13% last week.
Almost 3% of the U.S. public-school workforce exited the profession since the beginning of the pandemic, with survey results showing many more teachers and staff are planning the move this summer.
Large U.S. banks believe they will see positive results this week from the Federal Reserve’s annual stress testing, paving the way to unlock billions of dollars in excess capital to investors.
Economists expect U.S. housing prices to fall as much as 5% by mid-2023 as rising interest rates cool the market.
Los Angeles County homebuying cooled by 16.1% in May as rising prices and interest rates created 37% higher house payments.
Mondelez International plans to continue raising snack food prices and will acquire Clif Bar & Co. for at least $2.9 billion, a deal likely to take place in the third quarter.
COVID-19 hospitalizations are rising in the U.K., with the increase attributed to the fast-spreading BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of Omicron that appear to do extra damage to the lungs.
Macau, the world’s biggest gambling hub and a special administrative region of China, began mass testing residents after dozens of COVID-19 cases were reported over the weekend.
Israel saw over 10,000 COVID-19 cases in a single day for the first time since early April.
Ukrainian refugees could boost the euro area’s active labor force by up to 1.3 million people, slightly easing labor market tightness, the European Central Bank predicts.
The ruble surged to a seven-year high yesterday as the divide grows between its valuation and the nation’s export competitiveness and financial health.
Some companies, such as Phillip Morris, are finding it difficult to exit Russia due to shifting regulations, fears of arrest and the risk of expropriation. So far, global companies have incurred an estimated $59 billion in losses from their Russian operations.
Over 80% of Britons expect the nation to fall into recession within a year ahead of May inflation data set to be released this week.
Unemployment in China hit a nine-year high in May after strict COVID-19 lockdowns halted large swaths of the nation’s economy.
While homegrown inflation in Asia is behind the world average in some places, global market pressures induced several countries to hike benchmark rates in recent months:
More international carriers are delaying or canceling flights due to staffing shortages. Europe’s EasyJet cut its summer flight capacity by 7% while London’s Heathrow Airport asked airlines to cancel up to 10% of flights in some terminals.
Ryanair’s British pilots accepted a deal to avert a strike, while the carrier still faces strike action this week from employees in Italy, Spain, Portugal, France and Belgium.
Hong Kong carrier Cathay Pacific’s passenger volumes are down 98% since restrictions were imposed several months ago.
A Japanese government-backed bank is set to spend about $40 billion for sustainable projects over the next five years.