Southeast Asian countries critical to global supply chains may have inoculated their economies against the new Omicron variant. The Delta-driven wave of infections wreaked havoc on supply chains when it tore across Southeast Asia this summer. But the WSJ’s Jon Emont reports that countries including Vietnam and Malaysia at the heart of the disruption have learned from that experience, and economists and factory operators say they are better prepared for fresh waves of the virus. Vaccination rates have grown sharply and governments have shifted away from aggressive containment strategies even as case numbers have increased. That means companies are less likely to face a repeat of the production shutdowns that cut off manufacturing of goods like semiconductors and sneakers. Still, supply chains that run through the region still face challenges, with continuing labor shortages limiting production at some factories and suppliers struggling to catch up with order backlogs.

The drive toward electric vehicles is extending the geographic reach of automotive parts supply chains. Toyota’s decision to place a $1.25 billion battery plant in rural North Carolina will push manufacturing of car components into a new state in the U.S., the WSJ’s Valerie Bauerlein reports, in a sign of the upheaval that new technology is triggering in long-established automotive production strategies. North Carolina has been the rare Southern state without a major auto production or electric-vehicle battery facility. The state has lagged behind neighboring South Carolina as the Southeast region increasingly dominates auto production at the expense of traditional strongholds such as Detroit. The growing role of technology in cars is fracturing standard production lines even more, and Toyota‘s plan to spend $9 billion to build car battery factories around the world promises to extend the makeover.

The Covid-19 pharmaceutical supply chain is about to get another big test. Several drug makers are working on promising treatment pills for the virus that has ravaged the world over nearly two years. The pills are already in use in the U.K. and nearing regulatory clearance in the U.S., but the WSJ’s Jared S. Hopkins and Gabriele Steinhauser report they are likely take longer to reach patients in low- and middle-income countries because of manufacturing and pricing obstacles. The concerns reflect the imbalance in distribution of Covid-19 vaccines, which has left many in poor countries unvaccinated after wealthy governments bought much of the early supply. The disparity has turned out to be a critical gap in vaccine supply chains, as early concerns over transportation have largely dissipated. Pharmaceutical companies have licensed their treatment formulas to generic drugmakers but those producers will need several months to ramp up their manufacturing.

A measure of U.S. service-sector activity climbed in November in the biggest increase in records going back to 1997. (MarketWatch)

The leaders of the world’s largest oil companies say demand for their products will remain robust for years to come. (WSJ)

U.S. natural gas futures prices are 40% off their October peak. (WSJ)

Alibaba is reorganizing its e-commerce teams and named a new finance chief in the face of increasing competition and slowing growth. (WSJ)

China is restricting data on vessel movements as part of Beijing’s broad crackdown on the availability of information across its economy. (WSJ)

Steelmaker Nucor plans to build a small mill to supply steel reinforcing bar to the south Atlantic region. (Dow Jones Newswires)

Trucker Knight-Swift Transportation is buying less-than-truckload carrier Midwest Motor Express for $150 million. (Dow Jones Newswires)

Lucid Group is facing a inquiries from securities regulators over the deal that took the electric-vehicle company public this summer. (WSJ)

A British court ruling undermines a key part of Uber Technologies’ ride-hailing business model in London. (Financial Times)

Food-service distributor Sysco is acquiring fresh produce distributor The Coastal Companies from Continental Grain. (Modern Distribution Management)

Grocery supplier SpartanNash aims to cut its truck mileage by about 10% next year. (Grocery Business)

The Interstate 45 highway between Houston and Dallas has emerged as a key proving ground for autonomous trucking. (Houston Chronicle)

The Georgia Ports Authority plans to expand the Port of Savannah’s capacity by the equivalent of 1.6 million containers by next June. (gCaptain)

China’s container terminals are expected to sharply raise their handling prices next year. (Lloyd’s List)

FedEx plans to start selling capacity on the empty 53-foot containers it imports from China as a congestion-bypass service.  (Supply Chain Dive)

Australia is starting an inquiry into the country’s overstretched supply chains. (The Loadstar)

Shipping companies have ordered 238 vessels powered by liquefied natural gas this year. (ShippingWatch)

Industrial parts supplier Fastenal’s November sales jumped 18.9% over last year. (Industrial Distribution)

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

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