Consumers don’t appear to be buying into the peak shipping season so far. Big U.S. retailers have been releasing a stream of lackluster results, the WSJ’s Dean Seal reports, offering more evidence that strained consumers feeling the weight of higher debt and increased prices are directing their discretionary dollars away from certain products and goods. The weak spending on retail mainstays including apparel, sporting goods and home improvement items offers a sobering signal of tepid demand heading into the fall. Macy’s says categories including activewear, casual and sleepwear helped drag the company’s top line down 8% last quarter. CEO Jeff Gennette says more consumer spending is “going to services and experiences.” Sector-wide retail inventories have been largely flat this year and U.S. ports’ import figures suggest little momentum for a surge. S&P Global Intelligence says seaborne imports of Halloween merchandise is down 6% this summer compared to last year.

Ukraine is navigating complicated shipping routes and maritime insurance needs in its effort to reopen a crucial grain-export route. Kyiv officials are in discussions with commodity traders and global insurance firms to create a government-backed program to enable ships to travel to Ukraine’s ports, the WSJ’s Anna Hirtenstein and Jared Malsin report, as they seek commercial routes to replace the collapsed Black Sea Grain Initiative. The effort highlights how exports crucial to global food reserves are built on a fragile economic infrastructure that relies on bulk vessels that provide cheap shipping. Officials say the plan taking shape is for Ukraine’s government to shoulder the first losses in the case of a damaged grain ship. This is expected to encourage more companies to provide insurance to ships serving Ukraine’s ports, reducing premiums. A small number of insurers offer coverage for the route but at a very high price.

• A second containership sailed over the weekend through a temporary Black Sea corridor established by Ukraine's government. (Associated Press)

The venture capital sector is placing big bets on companies that dig deeper. The investment firms are piling into young companies developing technology to help find and extract precious materials such as lithium, cobalt and nickel needed to power electric vehicles. The WSJ’s Marc Vartabedian reports the startups are adapting technology from fields including biochemical engineering and autonomous vehicles to detect mineral-rich ore and to make extraction faster and more cost-efficient. The companies are part of the growing businesses that underpin the developing supply chains behind electric vehicles. The expansion, boosted in the U.S. by the incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act, stretches from sourcing and processing of raw materials to battery and vehicle factories and to investments in port and maritime vessel capacity. California-based Aether Biomachines, for instance, is developing technology that can be used to help extract lithium, a critical material for many EV batteries.

A measure of consumer confidence in the U.S. slipped this month from a two-year high. (MarketWatch)

Unionized workers at the Detroit automakers voted to authorize a strike as talks between the union and companies continue. (WSJ)

Grocery delivery giant Instacart filed for an initial public offering, with trading expected to begin next month. (WSJ)

Brewer Heineken sold its Russia business to a Russian packaging and cosmetics company for about $1. (WSJ)

U.S. regulators are asking airlines to review safety procedures after a slew of deaths and injuries among ground workers at airports. (WSJ)

The world’s largest shipping and logistics companies are rushing to buy facilities in Asia to help their customers expand supply chains beyond China. (Financial Times)

China’s automotive exports ballooned more than 75% in the first half of 2023. (Nikkei Asia)

Chinese state-owned Changan Automobile plans to build an electric-vehicle factory in Thailand. (South China Morning Post)

Canada is investigating whether the Canadian arms of Diesel, Hugo Boss and Walmart benefit from forced labor in China in their supply chains. (Sourcing Journal)

The Panama Canal authority extended drought restrictions on ships for another 10 months. (ShippingWatch)

Container shipping rates from Asia to Europe have started falling again after several weeks of increases. (The Loadstar)

Spot rates for dry-bulk’s biggest capesize ships fell to a nearly three-month low. (Lloyd’s List)

Walmart and Alphabet’s Wing unit are testing drone delivery at two Dallas-area stores. (Bloomberg)

Union Pacific is furloughing nearly 100 workers as weak intermodal demand drags down rail volumes. (Trains)

The Mayo Clinic is working with suppliers and other healthcare providers to commercialize parts of its supply-chain operations. (Supply Chain Dive)

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.