A congressional advisory body wants tougher U.S. defenses against China’s growing control of digital shipping and cargo information. The panel says the operations running through Chinese cargo-data network Logink present a threat to U.S. national security and to businesses that use the platform. The WSJ’s Daniel Michaels writes that the warning from the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission comes as governments are focusing more attention on logistics and supply-chain resilience. The report being released this week notes Logink links supply-chain participants, from factories to customers. It is used at ports across China and many overseas where Chinese companies operate or cooperate with friendly authorities. Shipping companies have worked to digitize cargo data in recent years. China has emerged as a leader in that field, and some analysts and officials now worry that Chinese state-controlled companies could share commercial and customs data with government monitors.

• Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to safeguard supply chain security, in a sign of Beijing’s growing concerns over China’s role in the global economy. (South China Morning Post)
• Japan's Daikin Industries plans to establish a supply chain to make air conditioners without Chinese-made parts. (Nikkei Asia)

A lackluster U.S. harvest is setting back efforts to relieve global food supply strains. Senior executives from companies including Bayer, Corteva, Archer Daniels Midland and Bunge say worldwide crop supplies remain tight, and two more years of good harvests in North and South America are needed to ease the pressure. The WSJ’s Patrick Thomas reports that government forecasters have lowered their estimates for corn and soybean production, largely because of high heat and drought that hurt plantings across the Farm Belt. The shortfalls in crops including wheat are driving up prices this year, boosting farmer incomes but undermining demand for U.S. exports. Resumed shipments out of Ukraine have helped, but grain transports from the country remain below pre-war levels. The weaker harvests will cut into a relatively strong period for North American grain shipments, with the Association of American Railroads reporting gains in the farm carloads in recent weeks.

• Indian agriculture supply chain startup Ninjacart is entering cross-border trade with an export-import marketplace. (Economic Times)

Rising coal prices may prove a double-edged sword for one of the world’s biggest coal exporters. Australia is raking in huge amounts of cash from the commodity, the WSJ’s Megha Mandavia writes in a Heard on the Street column, providing the country and miners like Glencore bigger cash flows amid stronger pricing power. But persistently high prices also risk driving away customers over the long run, particularly when affordable substitutes are available. If extreme weather events become more frequent, as many climatologists predict, there also may be more price volatility for mined commodities like coal. Record rainfall in Australia has already dampened coal production down under, with total Australian coal shipments down 7% this year from a year ago. The long-run forecast might push buyers more quickly to alternative energy if they conclude that coal prices will go haywire with more regularity.

• Buyers in Europe and beyond are vying to pay top dollar for coal from often remote mines in places such as Tanzania and Botswana. (Reuters)
• Puerto Rico is shipping coal ash through Florida to Georgia after banning storage of the toxic residue. (Energy News Network)

Construction on new U.S. homes rose a seasonally adjusted 12.2% in August. (MarketWatch)

Germany will nationalize its natural gas-starved energy giant Uniper. (WSJ)

China’s regulators have met with Boeing to discuss the 737 MAX, which has been barred from Chinese skies for more than three years. (WSJ)

Federal antitrust enforcers are investigating Amazon’s proposed acquisition of iRobot. (WSJ)

Hertz plans to buy up to 175,000 electric vehicles from General Motors over five years. (WSJ)

European truck makers are stockpiling natural gas and preparing to shift to alternative fuels amid the threat of a winter shortage. (Bloomberg)

A multinational group plans to establish a $25.6 million garment manufacturing center in Bangladesh. (Sourcing Journal)

Ikea has sold the containers it bought last year and is resetting supply-chain strategies that included chartering ships. (ShippingWatch)

Charter rates for capesize bulk ships hit a seven-week high on rising iron ore export demand. (TradeWinds)

Values of secondhand tankers are reaching the highest levels in a decade. (Splash 247)

DP World won the latest in a string of court rulings in the dispute over a container terminal in Djibouti. (Port Technology)

United Parcel Service and its aircraft mechanics reached agreement on a three-year contract. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Walmart is building its first fulfillment center in  Quebec, Canada. (Progressive Grocer)

Lufthansa is among investors in a new funding round for Australia-based freight transport software company CargoBase. (Journal of Commerce)

Red Bull-owned Austrian forwarder Berger Logistik is buying Idaho-based trucker Super T Transport. (Commercial Carrier Journal)

Shipper satisfaction with their third-party logistics providers​ declined sharply over the past year. (CSCMP Supply Chain Quarterly)

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 Twitter at @WSJLogistics.