Rising raw materials costs and supply disruptions are knocking the construction sector off balance. Projects and orders are stacking up in a rebounding U.S. economy, the WSJ’s Bob Tita reports, but companies that traditionally depend on long lead times and stable commodities prices are seeing profits disappear in the materials markets whirlwind. The construction industry is particularly sensitive to pricing volatility because months can pass between the time that bids are submitted and when the actual work begins. Suppliers typically guaranteed prices up to 90 days but rising costs for commodities including steel, copper, brass and lumber have upended normal financial safeguards. Many companies have had to absorb the higher costs and others are stockpiling materials as a hedge against more price increases down the road. Some are taking a lesson from the fuel-cost provisions in transportation contracts by adding materials surcharges to ensure buyers cover the rising costs.

The world’s biggest commodities consumer is trying to battle rising prices in part by adding more supply to the market. China this month auctioned off state stockpiles of copper, aluminum and zinc reserves and plans to sell more, the WSJ’s Chuin-Wei Yap reports, part of a multipronged campaign to roll back cost inflation that is hitting the country’s big manufacturing sector. The effort includes warnings from regulators to domestic industry associations and producers against illegal activities including market manipulation. Chinese factories have been weighed down by near-record high prices for key commodities including iron ore and coal, but other foundation materials like aluminum and zinc are adding to the mix. Analysts expect supply fundamentals in key global commodities will remain tight in the second half of the year, however. Western demand now plays as much of a role as China in influencing commodity prices and overall supplies remain tight.

The White House is erecting new supply-chain barriers against China’s effort to build up its domestic semiconductor industry. The Biden administration is asking the Dutch government to restrict sales of a machine essential in the manufacture of advanced microprocessors, the WSJ’s Stu Woo and Yong Jie report, in a move targeting the one-of-a-kind, 180-ton machine made by Netherlands-based ASML Holding and used by some of the world’s biggest chip makers. The U.S. request is raising tensions over what ASML says is an expanded use of export controls and is adding strains to relations between China and the Netherlands. China wants the $150-million machines for domestic chip makers, so smartphone giant Huawei Technologies and other Chinese tech companies can be less reliant on foreign suppliers. The U.S. objects on national-security grounds. But ASML says the bar undercuts efforts to expand manufacturing capacity and could exacerbate semiconductor supply-chain issues.

U.S. retail sales rose 0.6% from May to June on robust purchasing at restaurants and clothing stores. (WSJ)

OPEC and its Russia-led oil-producing allies agreed to release millions of barrels of bottled-up crude over the next two years. (WSJ)

Electric-truck startup Lordstown Motors said the Justice Department is investigating its business. (WSJ)

U.S. regulators suspended operations of the Transair airline whose cargo plane crashed into the Pacific Ocean. (WSJ)

Honda Motor is prepared to shift to selling only electrified vehicles earlier than planned if the European Union tightens regulations sooner. (Nikkei Asia)

FedEx will invest $100 million in Mumbai-based Delhivery and will transfer “certain assets” to the Indian express delivery company. (Economic Times)

The rate benchmark Shanghai Containerized Freight Index went past 4,000 for the first time in its history. (Splash 247)

Container shipping lines are loading costly new surcharges onto their basic charges to cargo owners. (The Loadstar)

Backlogs in handling ships and inbound containers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have been growing again. (Dow Jones Newswires)

Bad weather will delay the Ever Given’s arrival at the Port of Rotterdam by several days. (Lloyd’s List)

Kansas City Southern swung to a $378.6 million second-quarter loss on costs related to its proposed merger with Canadian National. (MarketWatch)

A labor rights group says canceled contracts and price cuts during the pandemic have cost Asia’s garment workers some $12 billion in compensation. (Financial Times)

U.K. construction companies say a shortfall of available truck drivers to deliver supplies is hampering projects. (Motor Transport)

Distributor MSC Industrial Direct is raising prices for the second time this year on “significant pricing activity” from suppliers. (Supply Chain Dive)

Wilson Sporting Goods is opening several stores as it pursues a direct-to-consumer strategy. (Retail Dive)

Logistics technology firms Kuecker Logistics, Pulse Integration, and QC Software are merging into a single business. (DC Velocity)

Developer Robinson Weeks Partners started construction of 1.3 million square feet of speculative warehouse space in Atlanta. (Business Journals)

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

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