There’s a new feature on the scene in Southern California’s tight warehousing market—empty space. Industrial vacancy rates in the region’s logistics-heavy Inland Empire have jumped in the past year, the WSJ Logistics Report’s Liz Young writes, as high leasing costs, capacity constraints and plummeting import volumes eat into demand. Warehouses there have been effectively full in recent years, with the vacancy rate down near 1% and some companies storing goods in parking lots. Real-estate services firm Savills says the rate in the Inland Empire reached 3.8% last quarter, still anemic by historical measures but a reversal from pandemic-era tightening trends. Landlords are coping with a receding goods economy that is hitting the major import gateway particularly hard. The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach handled about 1.3 million fewer containers in the first half of this year than they did in the same period in 2022.

• Amazon is expanding in Australia with plans to open a 2.2 million-square-foot, four-level fulfillment center north of Melbourne. (Bloomberg)
• Dollar General is building a large distribution center in North Little Rock as it steps up fresh produce sales in the Arkansas region. (Arkansas Democrat Gazette)
• A nonprofit is trying to get Pennsylvania communities to update their warehouse zoning laws to control what one official calls “industrial sprawl.” (NPR)

Amazon is remaking its retail supply chain under regulatory and market pressure. The e-commerce heavyweight is jettisoning dozens of its in-house brands, including an array of its clothing and furniture lines. The WSJ’s Dana Mattioli reports the cutbacks are part of a significant reduction of its private-label operation as it works to fend off antitrust scrutiny and shore up profit. The company will continue to sell some of the brands to clear out remaining inventory, but the effort will leave only a handful of operations, including its Amazon Basics business line. The culling extends an effort Amazon began last year as the company began scaling back private-label business following disappointing sales and criticism from lawmakers and others who said it could conflict with the company’s business selling other brands. Regulators have been investigating Amazon over a number of its practices related to private-label marketing and third-party merchants.

• Alibaba’s quarterly revenue rose 14%, in the Chinese company’s strongest growth in nearly two years. (Reuters)
• TikTok launched logistics services to sellers in the U.K. under a “Fulfillment by TikTok” name. (Logistics Manager)
• U.K.-based food delivery group Deliveroo cut its losses in half in the first six months of the year. (Financial Times)

A new threat to global natural-gas supplies is rising at a major exporting hub. A labor dispute at Australian energy companies has importers bracing for a possible slowdown in deliveries from one of the world’s largest exporters of the fuel. The WSJ’s Stuart Condie reports the threat is particularly worrisome for Europe, which is heading into its second winter since Russia’s attack on Ukraine cut gas supplies from Russia. Most of Australia’s supply is committed to Asia, so a sudden drop in liquefied natural gas exports could trigger a bidding war for gas from elsewhere, including from the U.S. The concerns highlight the fragile state of global LNG supply chains, even as suppliers rush to boost output and add exporting capacity. One analyst estimates the export facilities in Australia that could be affected by strike action accounted for 12% of global LNG exports last year, based on ship-tracking data.

• Asian nations are lining up to compete for Canadian LNG from the country’s nascent exporting sector. (Nikkei Asia)
• China's Guangzhou Gas began receiving LNG deliveries at its large new Nansha terminal. (S&P Global Commodity Insights)

Consumer prices in the U.S. increased a mild 0.2% from June to July. (WSJ)

Ukraine is opening temporary routes for civilian ships to sail from its Black Sea ports in a potential challenge to Russia’s blockade attempt. (WSJ)

Coach owner Tapestry is buying Capri Holdings, owner of the Michael Kors and Versace fashion brands, in an $8.5 billion deal. (WSJ)

A survey shows a fifth of U.K. importers have altered their supply chains as a result of geopolitical tensions. (Supply Management)

A federal audit of Norfolk Southern says the railroad has improved safety measures but has fallen short of bigger changes following the February derailment in Ohio. (Associated Press)

Container line Hapag-Lloyd said it is seeing “green shoots” in shipping demand after second-quarter earnings fell about two-thirds to $1.1 billion while revenue declined by more than half. (Dow Jones Newswires)

Second-quarter operating profit at South Korea’s HMM fell 95% to $122 million on a 58% drop in revenue. (Yonhap)

Expedited trucker Forward Air will combine its business with supply-chain management specialist Omni Logistics. (Dow Jones Newswires)

Bankrupt trucker Yellow’s stock will be delisted from​ Nasdaq next week. (Transport Dive)

The U.S. Postal Service lost $1.7 billion in the second quarter, as revenue fell 1% from a year ago while operating costs jumped 10%. (Government Executive)

Cathay Pacific’s cargo revenue fell 10.1% in the first half of the year to $1.6 billion. (Air Cargo News)

Workers at National Steel Car ratified a three-year labor agreement that ends a 41-day strike at the Canadian rail supplier. (CBC)

WeWork revamped its board with experts in steering large corporate restructurings after raising doubts that it will survive.

Yellow competitors are reaping a windfall of business after the trucker’s collapse, while customers face rising shipping costs.

Democratic lawmakers seeking more information about private equity’s role in the healthcare sector have made little progress.

European governments want a secure supply of critical minerals to power the green transition, but local opposition to new mines is often strong.

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 X at @WSJLogistics.