Vessel traffic is heating up along the Arctic Circle. A record number of ships sailed the Northern Sea Route along Russia’s Siberian coast in the first half of this year, the WSJ Logistics Report’s Costas Paris writes, as they took advantage of clear seas in the region’s warmest summer on record. The route from Alaska to the Baltic Sea counted 71 vessels and 935 sailings in the first six months of 2020, a virtual traffic jam on a sea lane that’s usually frozen over for a big part of the year. Some backers point to the lane’s potential role in global trade, but the new sailings suggest both its benefits and its limitations. Most of the traffic serves Russia’s energy sector, including big oil and gas projects on the northern coast. Global operators including container lines are shying away, citing infrastructure limitations and the troubling environmental impact.

Wisconsin may not produce a drop of oil or gas, but the U.S. fracking slump has hit the state hard. Dozens of open-pit sand mines along the Mississippi River have been idled this year, the WSJ’s Alexander Osipovich and Ryan Dezember report, dealing a blow to a region that supplies a key material used in hydraulic fracturing. The impact across parts of the Midwest highlights the broad industrial ecosystem that has been formed to support the energy trade. Companies that supplied trucks, lubricants and drilling tools have gone bankrupt and steelworkers providing oil pipes have lost their jobs.

The flame-out is particularly strong in Wisconsin, whose plentiful Northern White sand is considered ideal for fracking. Demand for the high-grade commodity fell as Texas drillers sought cheaper sand nearby, and the shift is reverberating across supply chains. U.S. railroads carried 223,705 fewer loads of crushed stone, sand and gravel—a category largely made up of frac sand—in the first nine months of this year than they hauled in the same period just two years ago, according to the Association of American Railroads.
 

A post-pandemic economy is already forming, and it’s decidedly light on assets. Business fortunes in a world kicked hard by the impact of the coronavirus show broad shifts in the economy are accelerating, the WSJ’s Greg Ip writes in a Capital Account column, with value increasingly flowing to digital platforms rather than physical assets. That’s why companies like online auto dealer Carvana have seen their market value soar this year while bigger rival CarMax has lagged behind despite its big fleet of stores and a history of profits. Companies with strong digital capabilities like streaming services have prospered during the economic upheaval. That has also boosted logistics technology operators that help companies get more virtual. Digital freight brokers Transfix and Uber Freight recently started offering software as separate products outside their digital brokerage platforms, suggesting both see value in selling their technology not just matching freight loads to trucks. 

U.S. unemployment claims remain elevated above pre-pandemic highs. (WSJ)

Samsung Electronics expects around $10.6 billion in operating profits in the third quarter on rebounding smartphone and consumer electronics sales. (WSJ)

Advanced Micro Devices is in advanced talks to buy rival chip maker Xilinx. (WSJ) 

McDonald’s comparable U.S. sales rose 4.6% in the third quarter after declining sharply earlier in the year. (WSJ)

Discount retailer Dollar General plans to open a new brand of stores targeting wealthier customers. (WSJ)

Grocery-delivery company Instacart raised $200 million in new funding at a valuation of $17.7 billion.(Dow Jones Newswires)

The U.K. government won’t ban food imports produced under lower farming standards. (Bloomberg)

Universities are rewriting their supply chain and logistics programs to include lessons from the coronavirus pandemic. (Financial Times)

Sam’s Club will add 2,000 distribution-center workers this holiday season and launch a ship-from-store program. (Supply Chain Dive)

Rite Aid is buying Pacific Northwest drugstore chain Bartell for $95 million. (Seattle Times)

Amazon displayed the electric delivery vans it is developing with Rivian. (CNBC)

Some container shipping lines are preparing to order new vessels after strong financial returns. (ShippingWatch)

U.S. maritime regulators will investigate whether container lines are wrongly charging freight forwarders for services. (The Loadstar)

Shares in Russian shipping line Sovcomflot fell after an initial public offering in Moscow. (Splash 247)

Suppliers based in Singapore and Finland are building an international network to supply liquefied natural gas for marine fuel. (Lloyd’s List)

The Port of Baltimore will study ways to make container terminals more accessible to large container ships. (Port Technology)

Germany’ DB Cargo is setting up new rail connections from the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp. (Global Railway Review)

Canadian National Railway carried record grain loads in the third quarter. (Railway Age)

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.