Today's newsletter was written by WSJ Logistics Report's Jennifer Smith.

The soaring home-building market is delivering hefty profits to sawmill owners. Red-hot demand for lumber and plywood is sending prices for finished wood to new heights, the WSJ’s Ryan Dezember reports, as the pace of new construction outstrips U.S. wood output. Lumber futures delivery later this month ended Monday at a record $1,575.60 per thousand board feet, quadruple the usual price. Mill owners cut production at the start of the pandemic, shutting down about 40% of North American capacity. Now, companies like Weyerhaeuser and Canfor are benefitting from a glut of cheap domestic pine trees and fierce competition for building products among home buyers and do-it-yourselfers. Mill operators say orders are stacked up into June. Surging prices haven’t dampened demand for finished wood, and builders and retailers including Lowe’s are passing the higher costs on to home buyers and shoppers.

Automotive supply chains are swinging to scarcity mode. After decades of keeping inventories low to maximize efficiency and cut costs, auto makers like Volkswagen and General Motors are stockpiling parts and even building their own factories to ensure access to batteries and other components, the WSJ’s Sean McLain reports. Supply-chain disruptions have been battering car makers. The volatility includes spikes in demand for passenger vehicles, semiconductor shortages that halted Ford pickup production lines and a February freeze that shut down a key U.S. resin refinery. That closure crimped output of seat foam, bumpers and steering wheels, shutting production at several Toyota plants and prompting some suppliers to take the costly step of flying resin in from Europe. The repercussions highlight the fragility of the global supply chain as businesses reevaluate long-held assumptions about just-in-time manufacturing and whether they can always get parts when they need them.

Competition for Covid-19 vaccines risks undermining the fragile ties that make production of the lifesaving shots possible. Major vaccine producers depend on a web of cross-border supply chains, the WSJ’s Jason Douglas and Kyle Kim write, and sparring among the countries that make the lion’s share of the shots could squeeze production just when it’s most needed. The members of the so-called “Vaccine Club” of producers source ingredients for their vaccines primarily from other club members. The European Union and the United Kingdom have tangled over access to finished doses, and the U.S. and the U.K. have reserved most homemade shots for domestic use. Restrictions like India’s recent move to temporarily halt vaccine exports could slow vaccination efforts and ricochet across pharmaceutical supply chains, especially for countries that produce the shots but don’t make key ingredients or supplies such as glass vials. Trade experts say boosting production is the best way to ease tensions.

The U.S. is restricting travel from India as coronavirus cases there surge. (WSJ)

Moderna plans to supply 34 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine to developing countries. (WSJ)

States are offering cash and other incentives as demand for Covid-19 vaccination shots wanes. (WSJ)

A congressional oversight panel said the government “made missteps” in extending coronavirus aid to trucker Yellow Corp. (WSJ)

Prosecutors in West Virginia argued the nation’s three largest drug distributors should be held liable for contributing to the U.S. opioid epidemic. (WSJ)

Business leaders support President Biden’s infrastructure plan but are wary of tax shifts to fund it. (WSJ)

XPO Logistics reported a 24% jump in first-quarter revenue to $4.8 billion and boosted its 2021 forecast. (Barron’s)

A measure of U.S. factory activity slipped in April as shortages and rising costs weighed on manufacturers. (MarketWatch)

Kroger is testing the use of drones to deliver groceries. (Dow Jones Newswires)

A study says the Covid-19 pandemic has taken a steep toll on Bangladesh’s 4 million garment workers. (Sourcing Journal)

Cargo revenue for U.S. airlines rose in the first quarter on robust demand for e-commerce shipments and medical equipment. (Air Cargo World)

Offshore drilling contractor Valaris exited chapter 11 after financial restructuring. (Splash 247)

Shippers are bracing for another round of maritime freight rate increases in June. (The Loadstar)

Marine fuel supplier Monjasa will start tracking its carbon dioxide emissions. (Ship & Bunker)

Transportation data firm ACT says truck driver availability sank to a new low in March. (DC Velocity)

BNSF Railway’s quarterly profit rose 5% to $1.25 billion. (Progressive Railroading)

GameStop signed a lease for a 700,000-square foot distribution center in York, Pa., to support its e-commerce business. (New York Post)

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.