Resetting inventories is taking a bigger bite out of shipper budgets. Retailers and manufacturers are struggling to adjust to a shifting economic outlook and changing consumer demand after a year of soaring logistics costs. The WSJ Logistics Report’s Liz Young writes that the portion of U.S. economic output that went to logistics spending jumped to 8% in 2021, the highest share reported in the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals annual State of Logistics Report since 2008. The nearly $1.85 trillion in logistics costs highlights the financial toll on U.S. businesses as they adjusted to supply-chain disruptions. Transportation costs grew at a double-digit pace across each mode, and the 39% increase in dedicated fleets suggests shippers have been spending to get better control of their goods amid broad supply-chain congestion. The report’s authors expect cost pressures to ease somewhat this year, but only from last year’s very high levels.

The inflation that’s wracking businesses and countries around the world isn’t making it onto the water. Shipping prices that were sky high late last year have come down to earth in recent months, the WSJ’s Costas Paris reports, as some American importers temper orders over concerns about elevated levels of inventory and uncertainty in consumer markets. The latest Freightos Baltic Index showed rates from China to the U.S. West Coast at $9,585 per 40-foot container, down 34% from the start of the year and 50% from a year ago. That’s hardly a bargain for many shippers, however, with the price still more than four times higher than June 2020. A pullback in the red-hot demand of last year appears to be a big driver of the drop. Shipping executives estimate that inbound container volumes across the 10 largest U.S. ports have fallen by an average of 25% since May.

The liquefied natural gas supply line out of the U.S. is spreading to Germany. American natural-gas exporters have started striking deals with German firms as Europe’s economic powerhouse looks to reduce its energy reliance on Russia. The WSJ’s Colin Eaton writes that U.S. producers have struggled for years to sell their gas in Europe, but Germany now is scrambling to find alternate energy sources now that Russia is choking off supplies because of sanctions imposed following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. U.S. firm Venture Global LNG struck two 20-year deals to supply German energy company EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg, and the Biden administration is helping pair more U.S. suppliers with potential European customers. 

The deals come as Europe tries to store up gas for the winter as the prospect of a Russian energy cutoff mounts. The WSJ’s Jenny Strasburg and Joe Wallace report that European Union efforts to tuck away gas in underground facilities during the summer are falling short as Russia’s state-owned gas exporter reduces the flow of energy through its pipelines. EU countries are getting ready to ration gas to homes and factories if stores aren’t 80% full by Nov. 1.

• India wants its state oil companies to scoop up huge volumes of cheap crude from Russia. (WSJ)
• Airbus is pushing against potential sanctions on Russian titanium sales. (WSJ)
   

Sales of previously owned homes slid 3.4% in May in the fourth straight monthly decline. (WSJ)

FedEx is taking a stake in freight-tracking software company FourKites as the two jointly build a data platform that aims to predict shipping delays and prescribe alternative plans for shippers. (WSJ)

The Supreme Court agreed to decide whether New Jersey can unilaterally pull out of a bistate crime-fighting agency it has operated with New York for decades. (WSJ)

Tens of thousands of transport workers brought the U.K. to a standstill during the largest rail strike in three decades. (WSJ)

Airports world-wide are struggling to handle the surge in passenger travel, as ground-handling staffing shortages lead to lengthy backups and lost luggage. (WSJ)

American businesses in China fear a new U.S. law blocking most imports from China’s Xinjiang region might delay shipments and raise compliance costs. (WSJ)

Kellogg plans to break up its business into three companies in a bid to bolster growth in its big snacks segment. (WSJ)

Amazon named longtime executive Doug Herrington as its new boss of world-wide stores following the departure of Dave Clark. (WSJ)

Sales for the annual sales event at China’s JD.com rose at the slowest pace in the online event’s five-year history. (WSJ)

Swedish electric-vehicle maker Polestar expects to raise around $850 million through a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company. (WSJ)

U.K. online grocer Ocado plans to raise more than $1 billion through a new share placement and new borrowing. (Reuters)

HMM and its affiliates increased their holdings in smaller South Korean container carrier SM Line. (The Loadstar)

Libra Group subsidiary Americraft Marine acquired St. John’s Ship Building, a Jones Act shipyard in Florida focused on vessels serving offshore wind operations. (Lloyd’s List)

Trac Intermodal says it is waiting nearly three times as long for truckers to return chassis as it did before the pandemic. (Transport Dive)

Indian e-commerce platform Shiprocket bought a controlling stake in fulfillment software provider Pickrr in its fourth acquisition of the year. (DealStreetAsia)

Rising materials and labor costs have pushed the price of a large pizza past $30 in some parts of the U.S. (Business Journals)

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

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