Count mining giant BHP among the companies choosing profits over production. The world’s biggest mining company is forecasting flat output over the next 12 months, the WSJ’s Rhiannon Hoyle reports, even as high demand and concern over possible supply shortages trigger a commodity-price bull run. Iron ore and copper prices have hit record highs this year, helping the world’s top 40 miners to an expected $118 billion net profit this year, nearly double the level of 2019. The windfall isn’t feeding much investment in new projects, and BHP’s project pipeline is almost empty. The mining companies are among a wide array of companies, including many transportation operators, that remain cautious on investments in capacity and output amid pandemic-driven uncertainty in the global economy. Dry-bulk ocean carriers are reaping the benefits of the strong commodities market, with rates in the sector boosted in part by capacity constraints.

The controversy over alleged forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region is reaching operations far from the remote area. Chinese factories that supply Apple and Nike and make other products sold in the U.S. are shunning workers from Xinjiang in apparent moves to steer clear of potential repercussions in their supply chains. The WSJ’s Liza Lin, Eva Xiao and Yoko Kubota report that Apple supplier Lens Technology phased out Uyghur factory workers transferred from Xinjiang through a state-backed program last year as Western companies stepped up their scrutiny of labor in the region. The about-face by Chinese suppliers highlights the growing pressure firms face as Western governments push multinationals to eliminate forced labor from their supply chains. It also shows the complexity of the effort. Apple says it conducted more than 1,100 audits and interviewed 57,000 workers to check if suppliers were following its standards.

Thousands of opioid-crisis lawsuits hanging over major drug distributors and manufacturers are nearing a conclusion. The outlines of a $26 billion deal between states and four companies is taking shape this week, the WSJ’s Sara Randazzo and Jared S. Hopkins report, along with the likely resolution of a $1 billion settlement of some of New York’s claims. The events won’t end all the cases surrounding the opioid crisis that has enveloped the U.S. But they should clear some of the legal clouds that have raised significant questions over the responsibility that pharmaceutical suppliers hold over the distribution of their products. Distributors AmersourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson and drugmaker Johnson & Johnson have been seeking to resolve thousands of lawsuits filed by state and local governments. As part of the settlement, the distributors and manufacturer agreed to create a clearinghouse to help detect and stop suspicious drug orders.

U.S. housing starts surged 6.3% in June to the highest level since March. (MarketWatch)

Consumer-products supplier Unilever is facing controversy over Ben & Jerry’s decision to stop selling ice cream in Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and contested East Jerusalem. (WSJ)

Salesforce says U.S. retailers will spend $223 billion more procuring goods in the second half of 2021 than in the same period in 2020. (CNBC)

Procter & Gamble is studying robotics to develop faster and more cost-effective ways to package and handle products. (Reuters)

BNSF has started restricting intermodal rail shipments from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to Chicago. (Trains)

Some 565 dry-bulk vessels are anchored off China’s congested ports waiting to unload, with average delays running about 10 days. (Lloyd’s List)

New Covid lockdowns in Vietnam are leading to a growing backlog of ships off the country’s ports. (Splash 247)

U.S. regulators plan to audit container lines’ billing records for detention and demurrage charges. (Journal of Commerce) 

GMS Leadership says ship scrapping prices breached $600 per metric ton, more than double the level at the end of last year. (TradeWinds)

Cosco Shipping Energy Transportation projects a steep decline in profit on sliding oil transport revenues. (Dow Jones Newswires)

British retailers Sainsbury’s and Tesco are raising supplier delivery charges as capacity-constrained trucking companies increase their rates. (Motor Transport)

Average world-wide airfreight rates are down 10% since May. (Lloyd’s Loading List)

U.S. trucking fleets are rushing toward leasing deals as the chip shortage hampers new-vehicle production. (Commercial Carrier Journal)

Hydrogen fuel-cell truck maker Hyzon Motors went public in a merger with a blank-check company. (Transport Dive)

Berlin-based Choco raised $100 million in a Series B funding round backing its technology aimed at digitizing food procurement. (TechCrunch)

Uber Eats will start delivering groceries out of 1,200 Albertsons supermarkets across the U.S. (Supermarket News)

Summer camps across New Hampshire are struggling to maintain food stocks amid uneven supplier deliveries. (Concord Monitor)

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

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