Disruptions along two of the world’s busiest ocean trade routes are sending ships on longer journeys and boosting energy prices. Oil-and-gas prices rose Wednesday after Houthi rebel attacks in the Red Sea prompted some companies to send vessels on a longer, safer route around Africa. The Red Sea route was already a detour for some gas tankers avoiding low water levels in the Panama Canal. The WSJ’s Joe Wallace and Gordon Lubold reports that the response from energy markets has been muted so far compared with reactions to past outbreaks of violence in the Middle East. That’s partly because crude and gas markets are swimming in surplus supplies, diluting the effect of longer journey times. The WSJ’s Megha Mandavia writes in Heard on the Street that the higher oil prices are both good and bad news for carriers, which will be able to charge clients more but will also have to absorb higher costs.

Electric-vehicle battery maker Panasonic is tapping the brakes on expansion. The WSJ’s River Davis reports that the Tesla supplier has decided against building an EV battery factory in Oklahoma. The Japanese company already operates a joint-venture EV battery plant with Tesla in Nevada and has another plant under construction in Kansas, where it has faced high costs that have made it hard to commit to building a similar plant, people at the company said. Panasonic cited “a wide range of factors” in its decision not to build in Oklahoma. Companies are building manufacturing plants at a rapid pace to produce EV batteries and other products the U.S. views as strategic to capitalize on federal incentives available under the Inflation Reduction Act. That is raising the costs of construction and factory equipment at the same time the EV business in the U.S. faces slowing growth in demand.

Home sales ticked up from 13-year lows in November after five straight months of declines. (WSJ)

Consumer confidence jumped to a five-month high in December. (MarketWatch)

The U.S. is stepping up enforcement of sanctions on Russian energy. (WSJ)

Southwest Airlines pilots will get a 50% pay increase over the next five years under a tentative contract agreement. (WSJ)

Rite Aid is banned from using facial-recognition technology for surveillance under a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission. (WSJ)

Alibaba Group CEO Eddie Wu will take control of the company’s domestic e-commerce arm. (WSJ)

TikTok parent ByteDance’s sales surged in 2023 to more than $110 billion. (South China Morning Post)

A University of Washington study says Amazon.com’s distribution facilities in Seattle may be exposing neighbors to pollution. (Seattle Times)

Amancio Ortega, the founder of Zara owner Inditex, bought a warehouse near Miami for $113 million. (Reuters)

Warehouse robotics company GreyOrange raised $135 million in a Series D funding round. (TechCrunch)

Hub Group purchased trucker Forward Air’s final-mile delivery business for $262 million. (Dow Jones Newswires)

The British Chambers of Commerce warns that U.K. exporters face growing problems trading with the European Union. (Times of London)

Malaysia has banned Israeli-owned and flagged vessels from calling at its ports. (TradeWinds)

CMA CGM is starting a service connecting Florida to Venezuela, Colombia, Honduras and Guatemala. (Journal of Commerce)

Hapag-Lloyd plans to add up to 15 new terminals by 2028. (ShippingWatch)

Danish wind giant Ørsted is pressing ahead with plans to build the world’s largest offshore wind farm in the North Sea. (Financial Times)

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.