Oil prices closed more than 1% higher Tuesday after dropping 7% Monday, while futures declined in evening trading following news of a larger-than-expected gain in U.S. stockpiles.
Energy futures rebounded further in morning trading today, with the WTI up 4.2% to $70.00/bbl, Brent up 3.8% to $71.98/bbl and natural gas 1.5% higher at $3.94/MMBtu.
Goldman Sachs lowered its forecast for Brent crude from $80/bbl to $75/bbl amid concerns over the economic effects of rising COVID-19 cases.
The U.S. is expected to announce a deal with Germany that would allow completion of the Nord Stream 2 oil pipeline from Russia to Germany, a project opposed for years as giving undue regional energy influence to Moscow.
Global greenhouse gas emissions are expected to reach record levels by 2023 following a full rebound from the pandemic, the International Energy Agency predicts.
BHP, the world’s largest mining company, is considering a trade sale of its oil and gas business as it seeks to transition from fossil fuels.
Profit at Houston-based oil field company Halliburton surged 33% from the first to the second quarter, reflecting increased energy services demand as drilling activity improves.
Japan is firing up additional power plants amid higher temperatures and an expected surge of energy consumption during the Tokyo Olympics.
Our most recent list of force majeure and allocation announcements from suppliers is here.
Supply Chain
Along with the U.S. West, a sweeping heat wave in the Northern Hemisphere is causing unusually high temperatures in Turkey, Japan and Ireland.
Temperatures in parts of Montana soared more than 20 degrees above normal to over 110°F Tuesday.
Southern Oregon’s Bootleg Fire grew to more than 340,000 acres Tuesday, the fourth largest blaze in state history that is now roughly the size of Rhode Island.
Some residents of British Columbia were evacuated after a wildfire broke out in the Okanagan Valley, rapidly engulfing more than 1,700 acres.
At least 12 people have died from historic flooding in China’s central Zhengzhou city, a hub of food production and manufacturing for the auto and tech industries. More than 100,000 people were evacuated.
BNSF followed Union Pacific to become the second railroad to limit traffic to Chicago this week and next, a bid to ease inland congestion at the midwestern gateway.
The global chip shortage is preventing BMW from completing production of roughly 10,000 vehicles, the company reports.
Mercedes-Benz owner Daimler forecasts the global chip shortage will slow car sales through the rest of 2021 and into 2022.
Semiconductor supplier ASML reported a 38% quarterly profit increase and forecast sales will be up 35% for the rest of the year in response to sustained demand from chipmakers, including TSMC, Samsung and Intel.
Roughly 200,000 seafarers are stranded at sea or on shore due to COVID-19 travel restrictions and their unusually low COVID-19 vaccination rate of just 2.5%, a rising factor in global supply chain bottlenecks.
The Federal Maritime Commission will audit nine of the largest container carriers operating in U.S. markets to assess potentially oversized detention and demurrage fees.
The Port of Virginia closed out fiscal year 2021 with a record 3.2 million TEUs of volume, up 16.8% from the previous year.
South Dakota’s governor signed an emergency order waiving driver hours-of-service limits for petroleum deliveries over the next month amid an extremely tight market for fuel tanker trucks.
The Offshore Marine Service Association is launching a new vessel to monitor cargo ships for violation of the Jones Act, a foundational maritime law requiring that cargo shipping between two U.S. points be carried on U.S.-built, -crewed and -owned vessels.
DHL will deploy more than 4,000 heavy-cargo drones for its European logistics and parcel service, with each machine capable of carrying 770 pounds for up to 1,500 miles.
Taco Bell is apologizing to customers for reduced menu items amid a widespread ingredient shortage, the latest restaurant chain to fall victim to global supply chain disruptions.
Markets
The U.S. made a scheduled 90-day renewal of its COVID-19 public health emergency Monday as the Delta variant continues to spread, now accounting for more than 83% of new infections, up from 50% at the beginning of July.
The U.S. reported 42,703 new cases and 298 deaths Tuesday.
New COVID-19 cases in Florida have risen fourfold in the past month, with 45,449 infections added last week, as some hospitals in the state strain under a new wave of virus patients.
COVID-19 hospitalizations in Alabama reached 469 patients Monday, the most since March and a 130% rise since the beginning of July.
Georgia reported 3,450 new COVID-19 cases Monday, its highest daily total since February, while virus hospitalizations climbed to almost 900, the most since May.
Ohio reported more than 660 new COVID-19 cases Monday, its highest daily total for the month of July.
St. Louis health officials are asking everyone to wear a mask in public regardless of vaccine status after Missouri reported more than 2,229 new COVID-19 infections Wednesday.
New Jersey’s governor suggested a return to mask mandates after the state’s seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases rose 50% from a week ago.
Just 57% of Oregon’s healthcare workers have received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, data shows.
New research throws doubt into the effectiveness of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine against the highly transmissible Delta variant.
Roughly 74% of respondents in a recent survey support restoring mask mandates if COVID-19 infection rates spike.
The American Academy of Pediatrics is urging all U.S. students to wear masks when they return to school this fall, regardless of vaccination status.
Roughly 119,000 U.S. children have lost a primary caregiver due to COVID-19, the CDC says.
American life expectancy dropped 1.5 years to 77.3 years in 2020, the sharpest decline since World War II. While COVID-19 has led the increase in deaths, secondary effects include higher instances of crime, chronic disease and drug overdoses:
Small and midsize U.S. cities are seeing the largest effects of the pandemic-induced housing boom, while real estate companies are increasingly adopting flexible renting systems across multiple cities in a bid to capitalize on remote work trends.
Initial home construction rose to a three-month high in June while applications to build fell, suggesting the residential construction market is beginning to cool.
Car insurance companies are seeing drastic increases in accidents and claims as people start returning to work and traveling for in-person activities.
Carnival expects to resume cruises on 65% of its total fleet across eight different cruise brands by the end of the year.
Intel’s autonomous driving unit Mobileye has begun testing self-driving vehicles in New York City, with dense urban areas seen as a major hurdle for the technology.
International
The virulent Delta variant of COVID-19 has been detected in 124 countries.
The true number of COVID-19 deaths in India is likely to be more than 3 million, nearly 10 times the country’s official count, while new research suggests as many as two-thirds of the country’s population has antibodies against the virus.
The U.K. reported more than 46,000 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday, a 40% increase from the same time last week.
More than 18,000 COVID-19 cases were reported in France Tuesday, an increase of 150% from last week led by new infections with the Delta variant.
South Korea reported more than 1,700 new COVID-19 cases yesterday, a record.
Tokyo Olympics officials are not ruling out the possibility of a last-minute cancellation of the games. Olympic organizers are already reporting 71 cases linked to the event, which faces growing opposition from many countries:
Australia’s two largest states posted 132 new COVID-19 cases yesterday, as officials credited strict stay-at-home orders with preventing an even larger outbreak.
Peru will purchase 20 million doses of Russia’s Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine to help fight off a third wave of the virus.
A new COVID-19 vaccine from French drugmaker Sanofi and the U.K.’s GlaxoSmithKline is under review by EU regulators after showing positive clinical trial results.
The EU’s medicines regulator is evaluating the use of a Swedish-made arthritis drug to treat COVID-19 in pneumonia-stricken adults.
U.K. home prices rose 13.4% in June compared to the same time last year, marking the strongest annual growth since 2004.
Volkswagen’s global electric vehicle (EV) deliveries surpassed 170,000 in the first half of 2021, a threefold increase from last year. The company announced it would start manufacturing EV batteries in Germany with Chinese manufacturer Guoxuan High-tech in 2025.
Japan is the latest major world economy to unveil sweeping long-term climate plans, including doubling the share of renewable energy in its power grid and halving the share of fossil fuels by 2030.
Our Operations
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. To arrange a videoconference or meeting with any of our Market Managers, please visit our website.
Thank you,
M. Holland Company
We will provide further COVID-19 bulletins as circumstances dictate. For all COVID-19 updates and notices, please refer to the M. Holland website.
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