COVID-19 Bulletin: May 18

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Supply

• Oil prices were lower in mid-day trading, with the WTI down 1.6% at $65.19/bbl and Brent down 1.5% at $68.44/bbl. Natural gas was down 2.7% at $3.03/MMBtu. 
• Torrential rain and flash flooding struck the Louisiana and Texas Gulf Coast yesterday where many communities are still recovering from last year’s hurricanes.  
• Despite Colonial Pipeline going back online over the weekend, the average price of gasoline in the U.S. jumped to a seven-year high yesterday, hitting $3.05, with multiple southeastern cities and states reporting dry gas stations on Monday:
  • Around half of gas stations in the Atlanta metro area and the state of North Carolina were reported dry. 
  • Nearly a third of gas stations in Virginia were out of gas. 
  • Almost 90% of gas stations in Washington, D.C. were out of fuel. 
• The International Energy Agency says investment in new fossil fuel supply projects must immediately cease if countries want to cut net carbon emissions to zero by 2050. 
• A Mexican judge blocked several provisions of a new hydrocarbon law aimed to strengthen the country’s state-owned oil company. 
• The U.S. Supreme Court dealt a setback to Baltimore in its lawsuit against 20 oil and gas companies alleging they misled the public about the environmental risks of their products.  
• After quitting the EU’s carbon market at the end of last year under Brexit, the U.K. is creating its own market for trading fossil fuel emission permits this week. 
• The EU announced plans to tighten its rules on ship recycling and decommissioning offshore oil and gas sites in its pursuit of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. 
• BASF will host a press briefing Friday to discuss its plans to team with Germany’s top utility company to cut its greenhouse emissions by a quarter by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
• Our most recent list of force majeure and allocation announcements from suppliers is here. 

Supply Chain

• The ongoing chip shortage is forcing Ford to temporarily scale back output of F-150 pickup trucks, with production at its Dearborn, Michigan, plant falling to one day per week starting May 24, while its Kansas City plant will be completely idled. 
• Taiwan’s government gave assurance that its economic recovery and semiconductor industry will not be disrupted by the current coronavirus spike in the country.
• Some ports in India are seeing severe slowdowns in activity due to the ongoing effect of the country’s COVID-19 crisis. 
• Ports on the U.S. West Coast are making progress in clearing a backlog of arriving cargo ahead of peak season, with 19 container ships awaiting berths in Los Angeles and Long Beach, down from 21 a week earlier. 
• Lumber prices are down for the sixth straight day despite continuing supply chain challenges. Despite the 85% price increase so far this year, lumber companies are in no hurry to add new sawmills. 
• Increased development of offshore wind energy and other renewables is set to boost the price of copper to new all-time highs. 
• U.S. rail regulators have halted Canada National Railway’s request to form a voting trust to acquire Kansas City Southern, citing fears that the merger could be anticompetitive.
• E-commerce home goods retailer Wayfair announced plans to scale up its logistics and freight forwarding operations across Asia and Europe to ease supply chain bottlenecks and enhance supplier experience.
• Logistics conditions remain strained, with trucking demand exceeding availability and continued congestion at ports due in part to operating challenges related to the pandemic. Clients are advised to provide expanded lead times on orders to help ensure delivery dates.

Markets

• There were 28,634 new COVID-19 cases and 392 deaths in the U.S. yesterday. Nearly 38% of the country has been fully vaccinated. Weekly deaths are at a 14-month low.  
• The White House warned that current progress against the virus could be reversed, particularly in states that have a low percentage of vaccinated people. 
• New York will lift its mask mandate for vaccinated people beginning Wednesday, paving the way for the city to hold the Tribeca Film Festival in June and the NYC Marathon in November. 
• Ohio’s free $1 million lottery entry for vaccinated citizens has led to a marked increase in the inoculation rate. 
• Texas reported its first day with zero COVID-19 fatalities since the start of the pandemic and the lowest number of cases in 13 months, a sign that vaccination efforts across the state are working.
• Despite lifting its mask mandate and ending business capacity restrictions in March, economic activity and COVID-19 case counts in Texas remained mostly unchanged, suggesting that behavior is driven more by personal risk calculations than by laws aimed to help curb the virus’ spread. 
• California plans to keep its statewide mask mandate in place for another month, hoping to encourage more residents to get vaccinated before the economy reopens fully on June 15. 
• Illinois plans to revise its current mask mandate after the CDC released new guidance for fully vaccinated people. 
• CVS and Target announced they will no longer require vaccinated customers to wear masks in stores outside of municipalities that require them.
• The United Auto Workers Union is set to review its current work safety protocols following the CDC’s revised guidance on mask wearing, asking workers to continue following existing procedures for the time being. 
• The White House will share 20 million COVID-19 vaccine doses with foreign countries by the end of next month, adding to an earlier plan to share its supply of 60 million AstraZeneca vaccine doses. 
• Infectious disease experts confirmed that COVID-19 vaccines provide the needed protection from the virus, regardless of an individual’s reaction to the jab. 
• A new survey from the Federal Reserve shows that the economic fallout from the pandemic was most acutely felt by minorities, women and high school dropouts.  
• Labor force participation for college graduates fell to 79% last year, down from 86% in 2019 and lower than during the Great Recession.
• Historically low mortgage rates are helping offset the rising costs of houses and building materials, supporting confidence among U.S. homebuilders. 
• The median home price in California shot past $800,000 for the first time last month, up 7.2% from March and 34% from the prior April. 
• Commercial real-estate prices have increased 7% since last July, erasing more than half their pandemic declines as the market remains unexpectedly solid. 
• Home Depot’s same-store sales rose 31% in its latest quarter, continuing a streak of robust growth amid greater home improvement activity. 
• Washington state’s governor is expected to sign a new bill requiring beverage manufacturers to include more post-consumer recycled plastic in its products, starting with 15% by 2023 and up to 50% by 2031. 
• Yeti is struggling to meet strong demand for its outdoor products, with inventories down 9% year over year in its latest quarter. 
• Los Angeles-based electric vehicle startup Canoo announced plans to bring its first electric microbus/van to market in 2022 with a baseline price tag of $34,750. 

International

• India reported a record 4,329 COVID-19 fatalities Tuesday despite a drop in daily infections toward 260,000. Total cases in the country surpassed 25 million.
  • The World Health Organization reports that the country currently accounts for 50% of global COVID-19 cases and 30% of deaths. 
  • A large cyclone made landfall on India’s west coast on Monday, forcing hospitals in the area to relocate their COVID-19 patients and pause vaccination efforts.  
  • New COVID-19 infections linked to a variant first found in India are now being reported in multiple locations in the U.S. 
  • Health authorities in the U.K. have identified more than 2,300 cases of the COVID-19 variant first found in India, with 86 different localities reporting five or more confirmed cases. 
• A recent surge of COVID-19 infections in Singapore has caused another delay in a travel bubble between the country and Hong Kong. 
• The EU’s medicines regulator said the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine can be stored safely in a normal refrigerator for 31 days, up from the previous five-day recommendation. 
• Citing a decrease in cases, Italy is continuing to relax its COVID-19 restrictions, shortening its curfew in low-risk areas and allowing indoor dining starting June 1. United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines are resuming flights to the country for leisure passengers for the first time in over a year. 
• Panama celebrated its first day in 14 months without a COVID-19 fatality.  
• South Africa expanded the rollout of its COVID-19 vaccine yesterday, administering doses to healthcare workers and people aged 60 and older. 
• With the number of COVID-19 cases falling across Germany, the country updated its tourism rules, allowing for those fully vaccinated to skip testing and quarantine when entering the country. 
• As Canada’s vaccination efforts gain steam, consumer sentiment in the nation has risen to the highest level of the pandemic.  
• The U.K. added a better-than-expected 84,000 jobs in the first quarter, the first quarterly increase of the pandemic.  
• Japan’s economy shrank a greater-than-expected 5.1% in the latest quarter, raising concerns that the contraction will continue in the current quarter and officially push the country back into recession.  
• The Philippines cut its economic projections for this year and next due to continuing pandemic pressures. 
• China’s economic recovery slowed last month, with retail sales up 17.7% in April compared to 34.2% in March.
• Carnival Cruise Line announced plans to restart some of its sailing operations in the Caribbean and Europe over the next several months, while hoping to resume operations in Florida and Texas in July.  
• Stellantis is set to announce a new strategic partnership with Foxconn to begin producing electric vehicles in China. 
• Wind turbine manufacturer Vestas has introduced new technology that allows wind turbines to be fully recycled, eliminating the need to trash old blades. 

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.