U.S. natural gas futures retreated from three-week highs Tuesday on forecasts for milder weather and less heating demand than previously expected. But natural gas futures bounced 1.7% higher to $4.12/MMBtu in late morning trading yesterday, as wintry weather took hold in parts of the country.
Boston gas price tracking firm GasBuddy predicts U.S. gasoline prices to peak at $3.79/gallon in May while staying generally higher for most of next year.
European natural gas prices fell almost 10% yesterday on a flood of incoming U.S. LNG cargoes at a time when industrial shutdowns and warm weather are curbing demand. Some U.S. vessels are diverting from planned routes to make their way to Europe amid an increasingly volatile energy situation caused by halted Russian gas flows.
Russia is expected to miss its May target of reaching pre-pandemic levels of oil output due to slowed production from Siberian wells.
Ecuador, Libya and Nigeria have each claimed force majeure on parts of their oil production this month due to maintenance issues and oilfield shutdowns.
China completed the first 1,000-MW unit of a major new coal generating facility in Inner Mongolia, the country’s largest site under construction.
Our most recent list of force majeure and allocation announcements from suppliers is here.
Supply Chain
The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach declined to impose new container dwell fees for a seventh consecutive week on signs of eased congestion.
A 1,000-TEU containership is under investigation after ramming into a Taiwanese dock and causing extensive damage on Dec. 26.
UPS will raise its fuel surcharge up to 10% for domestic air and ground services starting Jan. 3, the company’s third fuel surcharge hike in less than eight months.
Rebounding rail freight forced many Midwest rail yards to take unusual steps to reduce congestion the past year.
State and local government borrowing for new infrastructure projects reached a second straight 10-year high in the U.S., a result of record amounts of cash pouring into municipal bond funds.
A U.S. freight forwarder will begin flying planeloads of potatoes to Japan amid the nation’s severe shortage, which recently prompted McDonald’s to ration french fries.
Apple is doling out stock bonuses up to $180,000 for some employees to prevent labor shortages caused by defections to other tech companies.
Prices for palm oil, the world’s most consumed edible oil, are expected to stay excessively high in 2022 due to a chronic worker shortage in top producing countries and heavier rains than usual in growing regions.
Domestic Markets
The U.S. reported 377,014 new COVID-19 infections and 2,337 virus fatalities Tuesday. The seven-day average for new COVID-19 infections hit a record 265,427, shattering the previous record of 252,000 infections per day from January 11.
Roughly 59% of new U.S. COVID-19 cases are from the Omicron variant, new data shows, while evidence suggests hospitalizations are less likely from the strain than other variants.
COVID-19 fatalities among young people are greater than at any time during the pandemic.
COVID-19 hospitalizations among U.S. children rose 35% last week to the highest levels of the pandemic, despite research showing the Omicron variant is not more severe for the age group than other strains. At a hospital in Washington, D.C., test positivity rates for children surpassed 50%, while in New York City the number of hospitalized children has risen fivefold since the start of December.
COVID-19 hospitalizations in New York state jumped at the fastest pace since April 2020 yesterday, as roughly 2% of Manhattan’s population tested positive for COVID-19 last week and the city’s seven-day positivity rate rose to 20%.
California became the first state to top 5 million COVID-19 cases. COVID-19 hospitalizations in the state are up 14% from a week ago to the most since October.
Texas’ COVID-19 positivity rate is above 20%, the highest level of the pandemic. Dallas County elevated its COVID-19 risk level to Red as hospitalizations jumped 50% in the past week amid soaring infections.
Federal emergency workers were sent to Pennsylvania hospitals to help combat a surge of new COVID-19 patients.
The seven-day average of new COVID-19 infections in Illinois hit a record 16,040 yesterday. Illinois officials are telling residents not to attend large New Year’s gatherings due to rising COVID-19 infections straining the state’s healthcare resources.
Florida’s Miami-Dade County’s public hospital network banned visitation due to rising COVID-19 admissions, while garbage sat uncollected in the county due to a rash of infections at the sanitation department. The county has turned Miami Zoo into a 24-hour COVID-19 test site. Researchers expect new COVID-19 infections in Florida to peak around 40,000 per day by February.
Another 1,100 U.S. flights were canceled Tuesday as disruption continues over COVID-19 infections among staff and crews. Since Sunday, over 8,000 flights have been canceled and nearly 23,000 delayed.
U.S. officials are tracking 89 cruise ships with COVID-19 outbreaks amid calls from lawmakers for renewed bans on sailing.
The Holiday Bowl was canceled two hours before kickoff yesterday when UCLA withdrew due to COVID-19 protocols. To date, five bowl games have been canceled due to the virus.
The least vaccinated U.S. states led holiday retail shopping this year, a potential significant contributor to rising COVID-19 case counts.
Nearly $100 billion of Moderna’s market value has been erased since the U.S.’s approved at-home COVID-19 antiviral pills made by Pfizer and Merck.
Growth in U.S. home prices surged 18.4% in October, slower than September’s 19.1% rate.
A Rochester-based recycler is repurposing up to 95% of the materials used in high-tech electronics batteries, including from laptops and electric vehicles.
The seven-day average for new global COVID-19 infections is up 49% over the past month and 11% in the past week, including a second straight day of new infections topping 1 million on Tuesday.
COVID-19 hospitalizations in Portugal are at a fraction of the country’s previous peak despite record new infections, including 17,172 on Tuesday.
New COVID-19 infections in Greece more than doubled from Monday to Tuesday to an all-time high of 21,657.
Canada’s Quebec province reported 12,833 new COVID-19 infections Tuesday, a record, alongside virus positivity rates approaching 30%.
The CDC raised its travel warnings for Malta, Moldova, Sweden and Argentina over increased COVID-19 infections, while dropping a travel ban on eight southern African nations first to report the Omicron variant.
Low-income nations are set to receive more than 35 million COVID-19 vaccine doses this month, the most since vaccines became widely available.
M. Holland will be closed Friday, Dec. 31 for the New Year’s holiday. We wish all a safe and happy new year!
M. Holland’s 3D Printing group offers a rapid response alternative for producing selected parts where resin availability is tight during prevailing force majeure. 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.
We and selected third-parties use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL third-party cookies. For more details about cookies and how we use them, read the full Data Privacy Policy.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. For more details about cookies and how we use them, read the full Data Privacy Policy.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
Cookie
Duration
Description
cookielawinfo-checkbox-advertisement
1 year
Set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to record the user consent for the cookies in the "Advertisement" category .
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional
11 months
The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy
11 months
The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Cookie
Duration
Description
__cf_bm
30 minutes
This cookie, set by Cloudflare, is used to support Cloudflare Bot Management.
bcookie
1 year
LinkedIn sets this cookie from LinkedIn share buttons and ad tags to recognize browser ID.
bscookie
1 year
LinkedIn sets this cookie to store performed actions on the website.
lang
session
LinkedIn sets this cookie to remember a user's language setting.
lidc
1 day
LinkedIn sets the lidc cookie to facilitate data center selection.
UserMatchHistory
1 month
LinkedIn sets this cookie for LinkedIn Ads ID syncing.
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Cookie
Duration
Description
_ga
2 years
The _ga cookie, installed by Google Analytics, calculates visitor, session and campaign data and also keeps track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognize unique visitors.
_ga_S6SF7JZ2WY
2 years
This cookie is installed by Google Analytics.
_gat_UA-7828007-1
1 minute
A variation of the _gat cookie set by Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager to allow website owners to track visitor behaviour and measure site performance. The pattern element in the name contains the unique identity number of the account or website it relates to.
_gcl_au
3 months
Provided by Google Tag Manager to experiment advertisement efficiency of websites using their services.
_gid
1 day
Installed by Google Analytics, _gid cookie stores information on how visitors use a website, while also creating an analytics report of the website's performance. Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously.
CONSENT
2 years
YouTube sets this cookie via embedded youtube-videos and registers anonymous statistical data.
vuid
2 years
Vimeo installs this cookie to collect tracking information by setting a unique ID to embed videos to the website.
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Cookie
Duration
Description
_fbp
3 months
This cookie is set by Facebook to display advertisements when either on Facebook or on a digital platform powered by Facebook advertising, after visiting the website.
fr
3 months
Facebook sets this cookie to show relevant advertisements to users by tracking user behaviour across the web, on sites that have Facebook pixel or Facebook social plugin.
IDE
1 year 24 days
Google DoubleClick IDE cookies are used to store information about how the user uses the website to present them with relevant ads and according to the user profile.
personalization_id
2 years
Twitter sets this cookie to integrate and share features for social media and also store information about how the user uses the website, for tracking and targeting.
test_cookie
15 minutes
The test_cookie is set by doubleclick.net and is used to determine if the user's browser supports cookies.
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE
5 months 27 days
A cookie set by YouTube to measure bandwidth that determines whether the user gets the new or old player interface.
YSC
session
YSC cookie is set by Youtube and is used to track the views of embedded videos on Youtube pages.
yt-remote-connected-devices
never
YouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video.
yt-remote-device-id
never
YouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video.
yt.innertube::nextId
never
This cookie, set by YouTube, registers a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.
yt.innertube::requests
never
This cookie, set by YouTube, registers a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.