Hurricane Laura, which weakened to a tropical depression Thursday night, largely spared the petrochemicals infrastructure along the Gulf Coast.
Residents in Westlake, Louisiana, near Lake Charles, were advised to shelter in place as a chemical fire at a BioLab chemical facility spewed toxic smoke into the air.
The hurricane left six dead and a trail of destruction in its wake.
The sudden shutdowns and restarts of petrochemical facilities along the Gulf Coast is causing a surge in unauthorized emissions.
Our Logistics team reports that rail traffic and bulk truck traffic in the region continues to be disrupted.
Supply
Oil prices eased yesterday as it became apparent Hurricane Laura left the Gulf Coast energy infrastructure intact.
Crude prices were higher in early trading today, with the WTI at $43.37/bbl and Brent at $45.25/bbl.
More than half of new refining capacity due to come onstream through 2027 will be in Asia, with more than 70% of it devoted to plastics production as demand for transport fuels ebbs.
Scientists from Ohio State, Colorado State University, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have discovered a bacterium that produces ethylene gas as a biproduct of metabolizing sulfur, which could provide an alternative to fossil fuels to produce plastics.
Supply Chain
Tens of thousands of evacuated citizens were allowed to return to their northern California homes as firefighters continued to gain control of a historic outbreak of wildfires.
Established brands in China are benefiting from “consumption reshoring” as Chinese consumers spend more time and money in their country and the government encourages domestic consumption.
The U.S. Postal Service’s push for efficiency and keeping trucks on schedule may have conflicted with the surge in parcel delivery demand, according to logistics experts, as on-time delivery of first-class mail slipped to 91.6% in July, the lowest since April.
Trucking capacity remains tight nationwide. Clients are advised to provide expanded lead times on orders to help ensure delivery dates will be met.
Markets
COVID-19 infections rose in the U.S. yesterday with 45,966 new cases, while deaths fell to 1,116.
Fourteen states have experienced rising COVID-19 infections over the past two weeks, up from 10 early in the week.
Iowa’s governor closed bars in six counties after the state set a record for daily COVID-19 infections yesterday.
California authorities ordered the closure of a poultry facility where hundreds of employees have tested positive for COVID-19 and eight have died.
Florida’s tourism-driven economy is showing signs of a modest recovery, with airline passenger traffic and hotel occupancy registering upticks in recent months.
The pandemic has deteriorated the fiscal condition of most U.S. cities:
The federal government entered an agreement with Abbott Labs to produce 150 million of its rapid response testing kits, which received emergency approval by the FDA this week.
There are now six confirmed cases of COVID-19 reinfection, suggesting any immunity gained by recovered patients may be short-lived.
Those who experience mild symptoms of COVID-19 often are plagued by serious long-term neurological disruptions, including memory and sleep disturbances, dizziness and nerve pain.
More than 74,000 school children were infected with COVID-19 during the first two weeks following school reopening, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association.
A recent study in the Journal of Pediatrics found that asymptomatic children can carry particularly high concentrations of the COVID-19 virus.
Many schools are finding the bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ disease in water supplies that have stagnated during prolonged lockdowns.
One of Tesla’s Chinese rivals, Xpeng Motors, received a warm welcome from U.S. markets yesterday as the electric car company raised $1.5 billion in an initial public offering.
The growth rate in grocery spending is slowing in a sign that the expiration of stimulus measures is pinching consumer pocketbooks.
Meanwhile, dollar stores are experiencing brisk sales growth from more budget-conscious consumers.
HP’s laptop sales soared 30% year over year in its most recent quarter, and Dell’s consumer sales rose 18%, helping to offset a drop in office sales.
Boeing, reeling from the airline recession and the grounding of its 737 Max aircraft, advised several airlines to remove some Dreamliner wide-body jets from service due to two “distinct manufacturing issues” with the fuselage.
Coca-Cola, hurt by a drop in away-from-home sales, announced a major restructuring and will offer voluntary severance to up to 4,000 employees.
Economic sentiment within the European Community rose for the fourth consecutive month but remained at 60% of its pre-pandemic level.
Germany will maintain pandemic-related restrictions as its daily infection rate remained near four-month highs.
Peru surpassed Belgium as the country with the most deaths per capita: 86.2 per 100,000 people.
One-third of the world’s children lack access to remote learning, according to UNICEF, creating “a global education emergency” and posing long-term implications for societies and economies.
Global COVID-19 cases topped 24.5 million with more than 833,000 fatalities.
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