U.S. and global demand for personal protective equipment and other virus-related goods is helping China offset sharp declines in its traditional big export categories. China’s total exports to the U.S. were down by only 3.6% in the first eight months of this year from last year despite steep drops in shipments of apparel, footwear, furniture and toys. The WSJ’s Liyan Qi writes that the decline has come in categories covered under U.S. tariffs on about $370 billion in Chinese goods, despite a pact the countries signed in January. Exports to the U.S. have soared since mid-summer, with record shipment volumes landing at U.S. ports in August and September. Virus-related items appear to be behind the surge, with one expert saying personal-protection equipment and electronic devices related to working from home accounted for about two-thirds of the export growth in July and August.

Turmoil on a number of fronts is sending prices soaring for a pillar of food supply chains. Wheat prices have hit their highest level in over five years, the WSJ’s Kirk Maltais and Will Horner report, in reaction to scorching weather, concerns over food insecurity brought on by the pandemic and the lockdowns put in place to fight the coronavirus. Extreme dryness and heat in the world’s breadbaskets, including Russia and the U.S., are key factors in the price surge and have made it more difficult to respond to growing need in poor countries. The surge in wheat markets is part of a broader upheaval in food supply chains as traditional production and distribution networks have been wracked on a number of fronts. A U.N. agriculture agency’s Food Price Index recently rose to a seven-month high, with global cereal prices hitting their highest level in over two years.

Big brands are looking for more ways to bypass traditional retailers to reach consumers directly. Some apparel makers now are copying sellers like the Home Shopping Network and QVC, the WSJ’s Suzanne Kapner, as they get into live streaming in hopes that people who are still reluctant to visit stores can be lured in by a mix of shopping and entertainment. The moves by apparel suppliers including Tommy Hilfiger and Levi Strauss show how e-commerce and advances in technology are pushing brands along with retailers toward new selling strategies, with the logistics providing the glue that holds the plans together. For transportation carriers, the direct-sales efforts are adding smaller and more frequent shipments from the brands to consumers. Tech giants Amazon.com, Facebook and Instagram have also launched or are testing live sales platforms, adding to the momentum for retail supply chains that never touch stores.

Economists in a survey say the U.S. labor market faces a protracted recovery. (WSJ)

Big national food chains are gaining customers and adding outlets as tens of thousands of locally-owned eateries are going bust. (WSJ)

Libya resumed production at its largest oil field. (WSJ)

The U.S. government is investigating Chinese human-hair suppliers over forced-labor allegations. (CNN)

Apple will start shipping in-stock products directly to consumers from its retail stores rather than its warehouses. (Bloomberg)

Retailers are turning to curbside pickup to meet surging online demand while saving delivery costs. (New York Times)

Sluggish back-to-school sales suggest retailers may be overstocked on apparel. (Sourcing Journal)

Warehouse workers and truckers reached a tentative labor agreement with Southern California grocery chains that averts an imminent strike. (Daily Breeze)

Office-supply chain Staples will make its stores drop-off sites for returns under a deal with reverse logistics specialist Optoro. (Forbes)

A U.K. ports association is urging shippers to use alternative gateways to avoid congestion at Dover after Brexit. (The Loadstar)

Sourcing giant Li & Fung named Joseph Phi to succeed Spencer Fung as chief executive. (Women’s Wear Daily)

University business programs are rewriting their supply-chain education plans to include lessons from the pandemic. (Financial Times)

ExxonMobil is building a $5.1 billion liquefied natural gas plant in Vietnam. (Seatrade Maritime)

Japan, Australia and Southeast Asia nations will cooperate on efforts to reduce the environmental burden of LNG supply chains. (Nikkei Asian Review)

Brazilian miner Vale is investing in a new iron ore terminal at China’s Port of Ningbo-Zhoushan. (Lloyd’s List)

Some logistics operators are using exoskeletons to try to limit worker injuries. (DC Velocity)

U.S. shippers are increasingly turning to technology and shorter contract-bid cycles to cope with volatile truck pricing. (Journal of Commerce)

Russian bulk carrier Murmansk Shipping was declared bankrupt. (Splash 247)

Canadian Pacific Railway is joining the TradeLens blockchain-based platform launched by IBM and Maersk Line. (Logistics Management)

Hong Kong-based on-demand logistics service Lalamove is opening its first U.S. site in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. (TechCrunch)

A real-estate report says the U.K. will need 92 million square feet of new warehouse space by 2024 to handle growing e-commerce demand. (Logistics Manager)

DuPont Specialty Products will add a distribution center at a burgeoning logistics cluster outside Richmond, Va. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Paul Page is editor of WSJ Logistics Report. Write to him at paul.page@wsj.com.

Follow the WSJ Logistics Report team: @PaulPage, @jensmithWSJ, @CostasParis. Follow the WSJ Logistics Report on Twitter at @WSJLogistics.