Logistics operators are preparing to roll out enhanced security measures to ensure that new supplies of baby formula reach depleted U.S. markets. The steps to protect shipments from potential theft include tactics normally taken when moving pharmaceuticals and electronics. The WSJ Logistics Report writes they include technology and physical tools honed in recent years as food and beverages became the top target of cargo thieves. Experts say infant formula has long been attractive to criminals because the individual shipments aren’t easily traced, can be sold with relative ease into secondary markets and leave no evidence they are consumed. The scarcity of goods and high publicity also draw the attention of cargo thieves, which made household staples like paper goods and home electronics a target early in the pandemic. Shipment flows should start growing in the coming weeks, bringing logistics operators into the effort to solve the shortage.

Efforts to scale up infant formula output face a problem at the root of production. Many manufacturers use sunflower-seed oil to add critical fats to the products. But the WSJ’s Liz Essley Whyte reports that shipments from top sunflower-seed oil exporter Ukraine have slowed to a trickle, complicating frantic efforts to increase U.S. stocks of formula. Companies have been scrambling to increase the supply of sunflower oil as Russia has held up Ukrainian supplies at ports. But industry experts say finding alternative sources or resetting recipes with replacement oils will take time. The tight supplies are the latest sign of how turmoil is revealing the fragile state of many supply chains. An industry group expects U.S. growers of sunflower seeds to plant more crop this year. But getting that production to factories will take time. Adding to the complications, the second biggest exporter of sunflower oil is Russia.

• Danone will fly the equivalent of about 5 million bottles of specialist infant formula to the U.S. as part of a  push to alleviate shortages faced by babies with allergies. (WSJ)

Critical transportation infrastructure is proving to be the major hurdle to getting Ukrainian agricultural goods to world markets. Farmers are navigating mines, traversing bombed bridges and risking dangerous maneuvers at overworked ports to circumvent a Russian blockade and ship their grains. But Alistair MacDonald, Will Horner and Patrick Thomas report that Ukraine’s strained infrastructure has little hope of being able to handle the 30 million metric tons of corn, wheat and sunflower oil that is expected after harvesting starts in June. Russia’s Black Sea blockade has pushed crops across roads and rail to Ukraine’s western borders or down the Danube to be loaded onto ships in Romania. That has sparked a race to increase the capacity of those routes and high-stakes diplomacy as Ukraine’s Western allies seek alternatives. For now, a one-day truck journey on one route takes three days and river transports are backed up for days. 

Here are recent developments following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine:

Eu­ropean Union lead­ers agreed to im­pose an oil em­bargo on Rus­sia over its in­va­sion of Ukraine. (WSJ)

Russian forces advanced into Severodonetsk, one of the last Ukrainian strongholds in the eastern Donbas region, where Moscow is now concentrating its offensive. (WSJ)

A gauntlet of environmental groups, local opposition and bureaucracy is standing in the way of European plans to stop buying Russian natural gas by installing wind turbines and solar panels on a massive scale. (WSJ)

Russian coal exports to Europe reached a five-year high ahead of a European Union ban on the shipments in August. (TradeWinds)

For the latest updates from Russia and Ukraine, click here

U.S. households boosted spending ahead of projections in April, in the fourth straight monthly increase. (WSJ)

A measure of inflation in the U.S. pulled back slightly in April. (WSJ)

Iranian military forces seized two Greek-flagged oil tankers in Persian Gulf waters. (WSJ)

Demand for gasoline this month fell to one of its lowest levels ahead of the summer in nearly a decade. (WSJ)

Futures prices for lumber for July delivery have crashed by 52% from a high in early March. (WSJ)

Quarterly sales at big-box chain Big Lots and sporting-goods retailer Hibbett declined at a double-digit pace. (WSJ)

Rivian Automotive’s manufacturing engineering chief is leaving the electric-vehicle maker as part of a broader management reshuffling. (WSJ)

Oil prices cleared $120 a barrel in trading Monday. (Financial Times)

Stellantis replaced its head of supply chain for North America after a recent report that was critical of the auto maker’s relationships with suppliers. (Detroit Free Press)

Toyota cut its production target for June by another 50,000 vehicles. (Nikkei Asia)

Container line Cosco Shipping is predicting a strong rebound in freight volume and rates after the Shanghai lockdown is lifted. (Lloyd’s List)

Brazil is importing record amounts of fertilizer as it seeks to increase soybean production. (Bloomberg News)

A federal court ruled that an operation transshipping Alaskan seafood shipments through Canada to the lower 48 states violates the Jones Act. (Maritime Executive)

Rapid-delivery Gopuff is closing or suspending operations at 22 of its warehouses across the U.S. (Insider)

E-commerce delivery startup ShipX acquired Princeton Logistics and its TriStar Carriers trucking fleet. (DC Velocity)

Shoe manufacturer Dr. Martens is closing its Portland, Ore., distribution center and shifting operations to a new warehouse in Los Angeles. (Footwear News)

Developer Stonemont Financial is building a 1.1 million-square-foot speculative distribution center in Port St. Lucie, Fla. (TCPalm)

The price of shipping’s very-low sulfur fuel oil in Singapore has jumped more than 20% since mid-April to more than $1,000 per metric ton. (Splash 247)

Container terminal operator DP World says it will use metaverse technology to solve problems in ocean freight handling. (The National)

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

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