Amazon is turning to an Arizona mine that last year became the first new source of U.S. copper in more than a decade, to meet its data centers’ appetite for the industrial metal.

Amazon Web Services signed a two-year supply contract with Rio Tinto, in a vote of confidence for its Nuton venture that uses bacteria and acid to extract copper from ore that was previously considered uneconomical to process. The WSJ’s Ryan Dezember writes that the Nuton copper will satisfy only a sliver of Amazon’s needs as it and other tech giants race to secure the power and critical materials needed to build and operate AI data centers.

The biggest data centers each require tens of thousands of metric tons of copper for all the wires, busbars, circuit boards, transformers and other electrical components housed there. The 14,000 metric tons of copper cathode that Rio expects the Arizona Nuton project to yield over four years wouldn’t be enough for one of those facilities.

Mining executives, analysts and economic forecasters warn that a copper shortage risks derailing the AI boom, which has fueled stock-market gains and become the main driver of U.S. economic growth.

• Rio Tinto and BHP Group will collaborate on new projects at their neighboring Australian iron-ore mines to extract up to 200 million metric tons of ore. (WSJ)

Note to Readers: The WSJ Logistics Report won't be published Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the U.S. We will be back Tuesday.

Ford Motor and BYD are in discussions on a partnership in which the American carmaker would buy batteries from the Chinese auto company for some of Ford’s hybrid-vehicle models, according to people familiar with the matter.

The two companies are still discussing how the arrangement would work, the Journal’s Ryan Felton and Raffaele Huang write. One idea is that Ford would import batteries from BYD to Ford factories outside the U.S., some of the people said. Talks continue and it is still possible a deal won’t materialize.

The tie-up, if completed, would pair Ford with the largest Chinese car company, one that has struck fear in much of the U.S. auto industry over its ability to produce affordable models that carry sophisticated technology. For Ford, it solves a problem as the company pulls back from EVs and ramps up its lineup of hybrids: It needs a battery supplier.
 

A.P. Moller-Maersk will resume sailing through the Red Sea and Suez Canal following improved stability in the area, but said it will continue to monitor the Middle East security situation closely.

The Danish shipping company said that, after successfully navigating the route twice in recent weeks, it will now restart operating a service connecting the Middle East and India with the U.S. East Coast. Container carriers have spent more than two years avoiding the area after Yemen’s Houthi militants began attacking ships in the fall of 2023. A cease-fire in Gaza was agreed in October.

During the Red Sea hiatus, carriers diverted cargoes to longer routes around the Cape of Good Hope, creating a shortage of vessels and inflating freight rates. When the Red Sea route reopens fully, a glut of vessels could weigh on rates, analysts say.

• American forces seized a sixth oil tanker, the Veronica, in a predawn raid in the Caribbean on Thursday, the U.S. Southern Command confirmed. (WSJ)
• Fleetzero recently opened a factory in Houston and has raised $42 million from investors including Maersk to expand its capacity to manufacture big batteries for powering ships. (WSJ)
• Egypt’s first semiautomated terminal, developed by a consortium of Hutchison Ports, CMA Terminals and Cosco Shipping Ports, opened at Sokhna Port near the southern entrance of the Suez Canal. (Journal of Commerce)

• The U.S. will cut tariffs on Taiwanese goods to 15% from 20% under a trade deal aimed at boosting American semiconductor production. (WSJ)
• Canada’s Prime Minister is using a visit to Beijing to push for closer cooperation with China and diversify its trade away from the U.S. (WSJ)
• New jobless claims in the U.S. decreased to 198,000 for the week ending Jan. 10, down from 207,000 the prior week. (WSJ)
• Canada’s manufacturing shipments fell 1.2% in November to the equivalent of about $50.97 billion, the steepest decline since May. (WSJ)
• Germany’s GDP increased by 0.2% in 2025, marking a recovery after contractions of 0.9% in 2023 and 0.5% in 2024. (WSJ)
• The U.K. economy expanded by 0.3% in November, exceeding expectations and recovering from a 0.1% decline in October. (WSJ)
• J.B. Hunt Transport Services posted lower quarterly revenue, driven in part by lower revenue in intermodal, which is its biggest segment. (Dow Jones Newswires)
• Federal investigators probing a fatal UPS jet crash in Louisville, Ky., are reviewing how Boeing responded to past failures of certain components on its McDonnell Douglas aircraft. (WSJ)
• Equinor’s Empire Wind project off New York can resume after a judge said the harm from the Trump administration’s suspension order last month outweighed harms laid out by the government. (WSJ)
• Federal immigration agents targeted construction workers en route to a Meta Platforms data center site in Louisiana, arresting two dump truck drivers. (WSJ)
• Duke Energy named its chief nuclear officer, Kelvin Henderson, as its next chief generation officer, effective March 1. (Dow Jones Newswires)
• New Zealand’s Morrison & Co. plans to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in a new business called Fillex aimed at centralizing the dispensing of medical prescriptions in the U.S. (WSJ)
• The Orland Park, Ill., Plan Commission approved Amazon’s plan for a roughly 229,000 square-foot big-box store in the Chicago suburb, with a final village board vote scheduled for Jan. 19. (SupplyChain24/7)
• OpenAI issued a request for proposals from companies that manufacture in the U.S. as it looks to bolster its American hardware supply chain and find partners for consumer devices, robotics and data centers. (Bloomberg)
• Michigan, New Jersey, Minnesota and Florida increased their fuel taxes, effective Jan. 1, with only Utah cutting its motor-fuel tax rates for the year. (Transport Topics)

Mark R. Long is editor of WSJ Logistics Report. Reach him at mark.long@wsj.com. Follow the WSJ Logistics Report team on LinkedIn: Mark R. Long, Liz Young and Paul Berger.