MH Daily Bulletin: May 3

At M. Holland

M. Holland is excited to be the Headline Sponsor for the upcoming Injection Molding & Design Expo in Detroit! This two-day trade show will highlight the latest technologies, materials, equipment and opportunities in injection molding. The event is May 25-26 and admission is free. Click here to learn more.
How can healthcare organizations improve the environmental impact of their healthcare packaging, increase the recyclability of products and reduce overall waste? Read the insight from our experts here.
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.

Supply

Oil prices rose half a percent Monday on signs of higher demand for refined products. Diesel futures continued to rally, gaining 5% on low global supplies. 
In mid-morning trading today, WTI futures were down 0.5% at $104.70/bbl, Brent was down 0.4% at $107.20/bbl, and U.S. natural gas was up 8.4% at $8.11/MMBtu. 
U.S. shale producers Devon, Diamondback and Coterra reported three- and fourfold increases in first-quarter profit Monday but said they would hold output mostly steady to focus on shareholder returns.
Swelling orders for new LNG-carrying vessels are on pace to crush last year’s $16 billion orderbook as global demand for the fuel grows and more U.S. export projects come online:

Chinese oil demand is down over 1 million bpd from the same time last year, analysts say. 
OPEC likely remained more than 250,000 bpd short of its planned output hike for April, the fourth shortfall in five months. The group meets Thursday and is expected to keep a gradual output increase for June. 
Pemex reported over $6 billion in first-quarter profit, the highest in 18 years as output stabilized with more onshore and shallow-water drilling. 
India’s power demand is up 13% from March as century-high temperatures rock the nation’s electricity grid. 
More oil news related to the war in Europe:
• The EU may spare Hungary and Slovakia from a Russian oil embargo as it prepares to finalize its next batch of sanctions today. 
• German officials announced support for a potential immediate ban on Russian oil, gaining promised aid from Poland. 
• Reports suggest Europe will look to African LNG shipments to help reduce dependence on Russian natural gas by up to two-thirds this year. 
• Finland dropped its contract for a proposed nuclear power plant to be built by a Russian energy company. 
• Mitsui & Co., one of Japan’s biggest traders, will stay involved with a massive LNG project in Russia’s Far East it says is vital for Japanese energy supply. The firm tripled its full-year profit to $7 billion on the recent rise in energy prices. 
• BP took a $25.5 billion accounting charge related to its decision to exit Russian holdings, the biggest hit so far among firms pulling out of the nation. 
Supported by a tax on energy firms, Italy unveiled over $14 billion in new fiscal support to help households and businesses manage rising costs, particularly for energy. 
The British government is calling on North Sea producers to reinvest massive earnings into building more energy projects. 
Sri Lanka secured hundreds of millions of dollars to purchase fuel from India on credit, a much-needed relief amid the island’s worst financial crisis in decades.
A global funding package is in the works to help low-income nations reduce dirty coal consumption after demand for the fuel surged during the pandemic. 
Construction began on the world’s largest offshore wind farm in the British North Sea, which could power up to 6 million homes by 2026.
3D printing is gaining traction in the oil and gas industry as a means of reducing cost, speeding part manufacturing and decreasing the overall carbon footprint.  

Supply Chain

New Mexico’s Calf Canyon wildfire, the U.S.’s largest blaze currently, spread to 120,000 acres Monday as 13,000 people prepared to evacuate in the state’s central-northern region. The fire is expected to spread further due to high winds, officials said. 
The U.S. Purchasing Manager’s Index fell to 69.7 in April, a 16-month low, primarily on a drop in transportation capacity:

The ports of Seattle and Tacoma saw a 28.1% decline in first-quarter loaded exports from the same time last year, while imports hit an all-time high. 
Export bookings at the Port of Shanghai are down more than 20% since mid-March. Cargo diversions are creating backlogs at the nearby Port of Ningbo-Zhoushan. 
The Suez Canal saw a record $629 million in ship fees in April, up 13.6% from the same time last year on a 6.3% gain in ship volumes.  
UPS will put RFID tags on packages at 100 facilities this year, eliminating millions of manual sorting scans each day. 
Canada’s Cargojet quadrupled its order for Boeing 777 passenger planes that it plans to convert into cargo carriers. Air Canada is buying two factory-built Boeing 767-300 freighters after cargo revenue rose 42% in the first quarter. 
Over 1,000 U.S. workers for CNH Industrial, a global supplier of agricultural and construction equipment, walked off the job for the first time in two decades yesterday over failed labor negotiations. 
Amazon workers voted against unionizing at a facility in Staten Island, New York, dealing a blow to labor organizers after last month’s victory in a separate Staten Island warehouse. 
Ford is temporarily shutting production at a Mustang plant in Michigan, citing chip shortages. 
Semiconductor supplier Wolfspeed opened a plant in New York state aimed at compressing chip supply chains for U.S. automakers. 
India could provide up to half the cost for global chipmakers to build new facilities as the government looks to expand high-tech manufacturing. 
A Dutch energy firm and a storage specialist are partnering to build out Northwest Europe’s infrastructure for hydrogen imports from sea. 
British retail giant Tesco will test the use of trucks powered by solar panels on trailer roofs. 
More supply chain news related to the war in Ukraine:
• Ukraine’s government formally shut down its seaports that have been closed since late February. 
• The U.S. cut its outlook for global wheat trade by 3% this year as governments scramble to fill a void from the Black Sea region. 
• Soba noodles, an iconic low-cost dish in Japan, will see prices rise for the first time in a decade on shortages of Russian buckwheat. 

Domestic Markets

The U.S. reported 81,644 new COVID-19 infections and 266 virus fatalities Monday. Cases are up in all but three states, with the daily average rising to 56,000 from just 25,000 in early April. 
COVID-19 cases in California are up 30% the past week. The state’s population fell 0.3% last year due in part to high COVID-19 fatalities and a falling birth rate.  
More than 1 in 10 people tested positive for COVID-19 in Florida, a two-month high. 
New York City entered a higher risk category for COVID-19 yesterday, as daily cases are up fourfold from early March. 
The share of fully vaccinated people dying from COVID-19 is growing as more infectious strains reach older and immunocompromised populations. 
COVID-19 was the leading cause of death for U.S. law enforcement last year and the third-leading cause of death across the nation. 
Moderna expects to have ample supplies of its Omicron-tailored COVID-19 vaccine dose by this fall. 
Airbnb will no longer allow travelers to cancel reservations for COVID-19-related reasons. 
At 59%, Austin, Texas, has the highest share of workers returning to the office of any major U.S. metro area. 
U.S. job openings increased from 11.3 million to 11.5 million in March, as 4.5 million people quit or changed jobs during the month.  
The U.S. Treasury will scale back long-term debt sales for a third straight quarter this month, one of the longest streaks since 2014. 
The ISM’s index of U.S. manufacturing activity fell to 55.4 in April, its lowest in two years, as sector employment declined sharply. 
U.S. construction spending grew at a smaller-than-expected rate of just 0.1% last month on a slowdown in commercial construction:

Almost 90% of consumer-goods companies reporting quarterly earnings have logged profits above analyst estimates. 
Mortgage borrowers paid 31% more in fees used to lower contractual interest rates last month, one of several methods homebuyers are using to combat decade-high rates. 
California shelved plans to create a four-day workweek for hourly employees after the bill received little support from lawmakers. 
Spirit Airlines rejected a $3.6 billion cash takeover bid from JetBlue and will continue plans to acquire low-cost rival Frontier. 
Penske will buy back more shares after first-quarter profit more than doubled to $367.9 million, as industrywide vehicle shortages bolstered prices. 
Northrop Grumman reported a 9.6% decline in quarterly revenue for its aeronautics unit, citing labor and supply shortages. 
A Seattle-based startup is gaining traction with its pickup service for hard-to-recycle items, including batteries, #1 PET plastics and lightbulbs. 

International Markets

Beijing expanded mass testing and reopened a mass isolation center from 2003’s SARS outbreak as officials scramble to avoid Shanghai-like lockdowns. 
Civil unrest over indefinite COVID-19 lockdowns is growing in Shanghai as cases decline to under 10,000 per day.
South African COVID-19 cases tripled last week, raising fears of a fifth virus wave. 
New Zealand dropped most of its remaining border restrictions and will allow incoming travelers from more than 50 countries for the first time in two years. 
New COVID-19 cases in Hong Kong fell below 300 for the first time since February. 
Many South Koreans are choosing to ignore the government’s lifting of an outdoor mask mandate, despite daily case counts declining from recent peaks. 
The U.S. removed Mexico from its high-risk COVID-19 assessment, a boon for the Mexican tourism industry. 
More news related to the war in Europe:
• Russia’s billions of dollars in fiscal support are unlikely to prevent the nation’s sanction-induced economic spiral, economists say. 
• Russia pulled its involvement with the International Space Station. 
• The Ukrainian refugee count hit 5.5 million and continues to grow, according to the United Nations. 
Mexican manufacturing activity remained in contraction territory for the 26th consecutive month, according to a purchasing manager’s index. 
GDP in Hong Kong fell 4% in the first quarter from the prior year due to COVID-19 disruptions and moderating global demand.  
Japanese manufacturing activity slowed last month as supply chain disruptions in China weighed on demand. China’s factory activity is contracting sharply:

Stellantis is putting $2.8 million into reconfiguring two Ontario plants to make new-model electric vehicles. 
Used car prices in Germany jumped 17% in April as supply shortages hampered production of new vehicles at Mercedes and Volkswagen.