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.
Haleyanne Freedman, M. Holland’s 3D Printing Market Manager, will be discussing Open Platform Adoption in Additive Manufacturing. Don’t miss her presentation in the Designing the Future Theater on Wednesday, May 25 at 4:00 pm ET.
Josh Blackmore, M. Holland’s Global Healthcare Manager, is facilitating a training seminar on Understanding Material Selection for Medical Devices, from Qualification to Approval. Mark your schedules for this session in the Training and Development Theater on Thursday, May 26 at 9:15 am ET.
Supply
Oil prices were mixed Thursday, with Brent falling and WTI rising slightly.
In mid-morning trading today, WTI futures were up 3.3% at $109.60/bbl, Brent was up 3.4% at $110.70/bbl, and U.S. natural gas was off 1.7% at $7.61/MMBtu.
OPEC cut its forecast for growth in global oil demand this year for a second straight month, lowering it by 310,000 bpd. Demand is still expected to surpass 100 million bpd by the third quarter.
The IEA reversed its dire forecasts of a “global supply shock” from the loss of Russian oil, saying a smaller-than-expected 1 million bpd went offline in April. The agency would consider releasing more oil from strategic reserves.
A stoppage on the border between Russia and Ukraine’s Donbas region continues to interrupt gas supplies to Europe. Ukraine’s pipeline operator said it would not reopen the transit route until it regains full control over its systems from Russian occupation. European natural gas prices rose 18% Thursday on the news, while British prices spiked as much as 34%.
New Mexico’s Calf Canyon fire, the nation’s largest, expanded to 260,000 acres Thursday with just 29% containment, prompting more evacuations.
Almost 64% of the continental U.S. has seen drought conditions since September 2020, one of the longest stretches on record.
U.S. diesel prices hit an all-time high for the 14th consecutive day, reaching $5.56 a gallon. The sharp price spike the past two months is severely impacting the U.S. trucking market, especially lightly-capitalized smaller fleets.
The U.S. trucking sector added 13,000 jobs in April after payrolls fell by 3,400 the previous month.
Global air cargo volumes fell 8% in April from a year ago, with rates 145% above 2019 levels.
China National Offshore Oil Company ordered 12 new LNG tankers for $2.4 billion.
Russia’s Sovcomflot, among the world’s largest tanker operators, sold about a dozen ships to buyers in Asia and the Middle East as it works to repay loans.
Flags flew at half-mast across the nation yesterday to commemorate more than 1 million U.S. COVID-19 fatalities since the start of the pandemic. The U.S. reported 102,513 new infections and 128 virus fatalities Thursday.
U.S. COVID-19 fatalities are up 7% over the past two weeks.
New COVID-19 cases in California are up 71% over the past two weeks to a three-month high. San Jose reimposed a mask mandate for city workers as cases rise sharply in South Bay.
The U.S. collected almost $3 trillion in taxes the first seven months of the fiscal year, a record.
Median U.S. apartment rents are up 16% the past year, according to rental website Apartment List. Prices rose 39% in Manhattan over the last year, among the highest in the nation.
The average U.S. mortgage rate continued its rise to 5.53% last week, the highest since 2009.
Home values surged up to 25% in smaller, more affordable U.S. metro areas in the South and Southwest the past year, new data shows.
Arkansas-based electric vehicle startup Canoo lost $125 million in the first quarter and cautioned about its ability to stay in business beyond the current quarter.
A major Chinese property developer missed a dollar-denominated debt payment. China’s beleaguered property sector saw 17 defaults on international bonds last year.
The Conference Board lowered its projections for global GDP growth for this year and next:
Britain’s economy grew just 0.8% in the first quarter, the slowest in a year.
Mexico’s central bank raised its benchmark policy rate by another 50 basis points to 7% yesterday, the eighth consecutive hike and the highest borrowing costs since February 2020:
Ford reversed plans announced in February to make electric vehicles in India for export as it explores options for two Indian factories that stopped production last year.
Volkswagen aims to build 800,000 electric vehicles this year and 1.3 million next year as it ramps up electric vehicle output to half of all global production by 2030.