The waterways vital to European commerce are drying up under scorching temperatures. Water levels at one key chokepoint of the Rhine in Germany were roughly half their normal level this week, and they’re forecast to drop even more, while the Danube is receding in Eastern Europe, impeding a key Ukrainian grain route. The WSJ’s Georgi Kantchev writes the crisis on the rivers is disrupting flows of key barge-borne commodities including coal and diesel, threatening to exacerbate the continent’s energy shortage, while waters that are flowing are too warm to cool France’s nuclear reactors. Chemicals giant BASF says some types of ships are no longer usable while others are sailing with reduced loads, and it may have to cut output as a result. The receding waters are sending shipping costs skyrocketing. Freight rates on one stretch of the Rhine have more than doubled in only a month.

Inflation pressures in supply chains may be softening. A key measure of wholesale costs shows U.S. suppliers raised prices in July at the slowest annual pace since last fall, the WSJ’s Sarah Chaney Cambon writes, adding to signs that the rapid growth in production expenses that has helped fuel consumer inflation is easing. The producer-price index increased by 9.8% annually in July, the smallest rise since October 2021, and the measure pulled back 0.5% from June, the first month-to-month drop in more than two years. Slackening pricing is hitting the transportation sector. Maritime research group Xeneta says spot container shipping rates from the Far East to the U.S. West Coast have fallen by a third this year. In the U.S. trucking market, load board DAT Solutions says spot truckload rates so far in August are down 12 cents per mile from the average rate in May.

• A recent survey showed inflation was the biggest concern of sourcing and procurement executives. (DC Velocity)

The global search for lithium to support the production of electric-vehicle batteries is hitting turmoil in South America. Companies looking to tap into a region with more than half of the world’s known deposits of the metal are running into a series of setbacks, the WSJ’s Ryan Dube reports, highlighting the difficulties that automobile and battery makers face in trying to build new supply chains with scarce raw materials. A Chilean court recently threw out a government contract allowing Chinese EV giant BYD to mine lithium there, for instance, saying the government failed to consult with indigenous people first. The site is in the so-called Lithium Triangle, which overlaps parts of Chile, Bolivia and Argentina. Production has lagged as leftist governments have angled for greater control, as well as from environmental concerns and activism by local Andean communities who fear being left out while outsiders get rich.

• Electric-vehicle maker Rivian Automotive’s net loss nearly tripled in the second quarter to $1.7 billion. (WSJ)

New jobless claims in the U.S. rose to a new high for 2022. (WSJ)

OPEC cut its forecast for global oil demand this year and in 2023 on slowing economic growth. (WSJ)

Home prices climbed to record highs last quarter across nearly all the U.S. as buyer demand started to weaken. (WSJ)

Risk analysts say high global food prices and grain and fertilizer shortages could trigger unrest and test Western companies with overseas operations. (WSJ)

Online eyewear merchant Warby Parker lowered its sales outlook and said it is cutting 15% of its corporate staff. (WSJ)

South Korea’s technology-related exports fell in July for the first time in two years. (Bloomberg)

German industrial conglomerate Siemens swung to its first quarterly loss in nearly 12 years. (Financial Times)

Ukraine expects its grain exports to reach 3 million metric tons in September, about 60% of monthly levels before the Russian invasion. (Lloyd’s List)

Container line Hapag-Lloyd more than tripled its first-half net profit to about $8.9 billion as average freight rates were up 77% over the same period last year. (Reuters)

Taiwanese container line Yang Ming’s first-half profit doubled to about $3.9 billion. (Journal of Commerce)

Diana Shipping bought the nine bulk vessels in Sea Trade Holdings’ fleet for $330 million. (TradeWinds)

Tanker operator DHT Holdings swung to a $10 million second-quarter profit, in part on the sale of two vessels. (ShippingWatch)

A trucking industry research group says the sector’s marginal costs rose 12.7% last year to a record $1.855 per mile. (FleetOwner)

Walmart is completing work on a 400,000-square-foot highly-automated consolidation center in Lebanon, Pa. (Progressive Grocer)

Some supermarkets in Australia are restricting egg purchases because of a national shortage. (The Conversation) 

Paul Page is editor of WSJ Logistics Report. Write to 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.