The seas are getting much choppier for the world’s big container lines. A.P. Moller-Maersk is offering one of the grimmest projections yet of sagging global trade prospects, saying it expects its earnings could plunge nearly 80% this year and that worldwide container shipping volumes could fall as much as 2.5%. The WSJ’s Costas Paris and Dominic Chopping report the outlook is in sharp contrast with the some $37 billion in profits that Maersk reported for 2022. The earnings started sliding in the second half of the year, however, and Maersk now is joining United Parcel Service, FedEx and C.H. Robinson Worldwide in offering a sour view of 2023. There are some signs that the decline in shipping volumes in the U.S. is leveling off. U.S. container import volumes in January were up 7.2% from December, according to Descartes Datamyne, and just 0.3% behind the January 2019 prepandemic level.

• Germany's Hapag-Lloyd expects 2022 operating earnings to nearly double to about $18.8 billion. (Dow Jones Newswires)

Extending the supply chain for the raw materials critical to electric-vehicle batteries is going to be a long-running project. A mining company owned by the Swedish government recently found an estimated one million metric tons of rare-earths metals, Europe’s largest such deposit. The WSJ’s Yusuf Khan reports that LKAB will likely face significant hurdles to mining the metals and then a long arc in setting up the facilities that can handle the multistep processing of the oxides that go into batteries for cars and consumer electronics. The rare-earths supply chain is long, and most of it now runs out of China, which undertakes 60% of the mining and 91% of the refining of the metals. Other rare-earth projects are making progress. U.K.-based Pensana aims to mine rare-earth concentrates in Angola, before separating and processing them in the north of England. Projects in Norway and Australia also are making headway.

• General Motors has discussed taking a stake in Brazilian miner Vale’s unit that mines and processes metals crucial to electric vehicle batteries. (WSJ)
• Volvo Car is in ad­vanced talks with big­ min­ing com­pa­nies and discussing po­ten­tial stakes in lithium min­ing or pro­cess­ing op­er­a­tions. (WSJ)
• Political unrest in Peru is threatening copper supply from the world’s largest producer and driving up the metal’s prices. (Financial Times)
• Revenues at South Korea’s three big battery companies are soaring on strong electric-vehicle demand. (Nikkei Asia)
• Shanghai-based electric-vehicle components supplier Leekr Technology is doubling production capacity to meet surging demand. (South China Morning Post)

Wholesale distribution is looking like a better fit these days for shoe brands that have expanded direct-to-consumer sales. Zurich-based high-end sneaker merchant On has expanded sales at a rapid pace since making its public-market debut in 2021. The WSJ’s Jinjoo Lee writes in a Heard on the Street column that On’s performance contrasts with trendy San Francisco-based rival Allbirds, which says selling and shipping directly to customers allows it to “cut out the layers of costs associated with traditional wholesalers.” Still, the logistics can be more complicated and costly. On started with a distribution strategy that embraced third-party retailers. The strategy has paid off in sales and profits while Allbirds hasn’t turned a profit so far. Even industry heavyweight Nike appears to be slowing its withdrawal from key retail operators. The company recently invited wholesale partners to its campus for the first time in three years.

New White House wage figures suggest labor-cost pressures are easing in key parts of the economy. (WSJ)

Volkswagen says supply-chain troubles left the auto maker with too much inventory at the end of 2022. (WSJ)

Wholesale egg suppliers say they are reluctant to lower prices as long as avian influenza threatens output. (WSJ)

A passenger’s battery pack caught fire on a United Airlines flight, injuring four flight attendants. (WSJ)

Kroger is expanding its purchasing of produce and goods from indoor farming company Gotham Greens. (Grocery Dive)

A shipping research group says China’s 4.7% container throughput growth last year included double counting of domestic port volumes. (Lloyd’s List)

Knight-Swift Transportation took its first autonomous-technology truck from startup Embark Trucks. (Commercial Carrier Journal)

Less-than-truckload carrier XPO lost $94 million in its first quarter since spinning off freight brokerage RXO. (Dow Jones Newswires)

U.S. regulators grounded Guam-based freighter operator Asia Pacific Airlines. (Air Cargo News)

Freighter operators for Amazon expect the company to cut the number of planes it uses. (The Loadstar)

CSX reached an agreement on paid sick leave with two of the freight railroad’s unions. (Logistics Management)

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

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