It turns out there are plenty of profits left in coal mines after all. Prices for thermal coal used to generate electricity have shot to decade highs, the WSJ’s Joe Wallace and Rhiannon Hoyle report, and that is filling the pockets of miners including Glencore, Peabody Energy and Whitehaven Coal. Glencore is one of the biggest producers of thermal coal for export by sea, and its $8.7 billion earnings in the first six months of 2021 marked a record. The producers are operating in a seller’s market, with demand and prices rising amid declining coal production as financing for thermal-coal projects dries up. The demand is being felt in the U.S., where coal transports on rail networks are rebounding. Coal shipments carried by U.S. railroads were up more than 12% in the first seven months of the year from a year ago, according to the Association of American Railroads.

The world’s biggest contract electronics manufacturer is jumping into one of the world’s most troubled supply chains. Foxconn Technology Group is acquiring a semiconductor manufacturing facility, the WSJ’s Yang Jie and Stephanie Yang report, taking the company deeper into the chip business at a time of unprecedented global strain and upheaval. The assembler of Apple iPhones is buying a Taiwan-based plant that makes six-inch wafers used in cars, a purchase that it said would help secure a steady supply of auto chips as Foxconn expands further into the electric-vehicle industry. The company has already been mapping out a move into the automotive business with separate agreements with Fisker and Stellantis. Foxconn is being elusive about whether it is entering the sector to make chips for Tesla. The factory purchase comes as existing chip makers are scrambling to add capacity and industry heavyweight Intel is adding its own contract manufacturing capacity.
 

The White House is throwing its weight behind electric-vehicle supply chains. Leaders of Detroit’s Big Three auto makers joined Biden administration officials in backing plans to sharply scale up the use of electric, hydrogen-fuel cell or plug-in hybrid vehicles. The WSJ’s Katy Stech Ferek and Ben Foldy report that the commitment hinges on federal funding for manufacturing and supply-chain research and development, purchase incentives and a national electric-vehicle charging network. The plan would set a new standard for a fleetwide average of 52 miles per gallon by 2026. It would also have roughly half of all cars and light trucks sold in the U.S. by 2030 be electric. The target is voluntary, signaling the tough road car makers face in retooling their supply chains when much of the infrastructure and technology remains under development. Some of that support would come in an infrastructure bill in Congress.

U.S. imports surged 2.1% to a new monthly high in June while exports increased 0.6%. (WSJ)

New jobless claims in the U.S. fell slightly to 385,000 last week. (WSJ)

Chi­na’s an­titrust reg­u­la­tor is pre­paring to fine food-delivery giant Meituan roughly $1 bil­lion for al­legedly abus­ing its dom­i­nant mar­ket po­si­tion. (WSJ)

Exxon Mobil is considering a pledge to reduce its net carbon emissions to zero by 2050. (WSJ)

Amazon will delay corporate employees’ return to offices until next year amid the growing spread of the coronavirus Delta variant. (WSJ)

Uber Technologies narrowed its net loss in the second quarter as Freight revenue rose 65% to $348 million. (WSJ)

Coronavirus outbreaks across Southeast Asia are disrupting global supply chains in the automotive and electronics sectors. (Nikkei Asia)

More than a third of Vietnam’s textile and garment producers have been idled by the country’s latest coronavirus outbreak. (Sourcing Journal)

China is imposing new Covid-related restrictions on vessels arriving at some ports, threatening new delays in supply chains. (Lloyd’s List)

Xeneta says contracted container shipping rates rose a record 28% in July compared to June. (Dow Jones Newswires)

Scorpio Tankers issued a grim outlook for the oil transport market this year after it swung to a $53 million loss in the second quarter. (ShippingWatch)

Amazon will develop an air cargo facility at New Jersey’s Newark Liberty International Airport. (Bloomberg)

A section of Interstate 70 near Colorado Springs, Colo., could be closed for “a few days to a few weeks” because of damage from mudslides. (Denver Post)

Second-quarter profit at expedited trucker Forward Air more than quadrupled to $30.7 million. (The Loadstar)

Second-quarter revenue at Lufthansa’s cargo business rose 15% to about $907 million on a 38% gain in airfreight traffic. (Air Cargo News)

Atlas Air expects long haul cargo capacity to remain tight this peak shipping season because of parked passenger jets and ocean freight logjams. (Dow Jones Newswires)

Authorities in Oceanside, Calif., near San Diego overturned an earlier approval of an Amazon distribution center. (San Diego Union Tribune)

Retailer The Container Store reported a profitable first quarter for the first time in over a decade. (Retail Dive)

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

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