Negotiations between United Parcel Service and the Teamsters are at a standstill with less than a month to go before the current contract expires. The two sides this week broke off marathon talks focused on economic issues, the WSJ’s Esther Fung reports, and each side accused the other of abandoning the bargaining table. That raised the risk that roughly 330,000 parcel-delivery drivers and package sorters could go on strike when the current agreement expires July 31. The UPS-Teamsters contract is the largest collective-bargaining agreement involving a private employer in North America, and a walkout would reach deep into supply chains, from online consumer orders to industrial parts headed to factories. One possible benchmark for a deal could be the recent Teamsters agreement with trucker ABF Freight. That pact, which the company drivers approved last week, gives union members a pay increase of $6.50 an hour over five years.

• Talks to resolve a strike by British Columbia dockworkers are stalled over coverage of maintenance work at the ports. (CBC)
• Unionized pilots at CMA CGM’s airfreight unit said they would strike through Friday. (The Loadstar)

Production and inventory levels in the U.S. auto industry are finally getting in line with the sector’s strong consumer demand. Industry-wide sales of new autos in the U.S. jumped an estimated 13% in the first half of the year, the WSJ’s Mike Colias reports, as supply-chain constraints at assembly plants eased and buyers responded with a strong demonstration of pent-up demand. Although auto sales this year will likely fall short of prepandemic levels, factory output is improving. There were about 1.9 million vehicles on dealership lots or being shipped to stores last month, a 52% increase from last year, according to Wards Intelligence. The improving pace in the crucial sector in U.S. industrial production is showing up in transport networks. Shipments of motor vehicles and auto parts on U.S. railroads rose 21.1% from last year in June, according to the Association of American Railroads, up from a 15.3% growth rate in May.

• Nikola’s production of electric trucks fell by nearly half to 33 vehicles last quarter as the company faces a cash crunch. (WSJ)
• Rivian Automotive began delivering its first electric package vans to Amazon for its European operations. (Reuters)
• Chinese electric-vehicle maker BYD tapped Brazil for its first factory outside Asia. (South China Morning Post)

Orders for U.S. manufactured goods rose 0.3% in May, the fifth gain in the past six months. (MarketWatch)

China’s onshore yuan has lost around 4.8% of its value this year as it nears a 15-year low. (WSJ)

The U.S. Navy thwarted an attempt by Iran to seize two crude tankers near the Strait of Hormuz. (WSJ)

The European Union wants the textile industry to pay for the processing of discarded clothing under an environmental rule targeting the fast-fashion sector. (Financial Times)

Japan’s Port of Nagoya suffered a suspected cyberattack that halted cargo operations at the country’s busiest gateway. (Nikkei Asia)

A cargo ship owned by the Grimaldi Group caught fire overnight at Port Newark, N.J. (New York Times)

European officials say organized criminals have fully infiltrated an unidentified port to facilitate drug imports. (TradeWinds)

Cosco Shipping is projecting a 74% drop in operating income in the first half of the year, to $3.4 billion. (Journal of Commerce)

Knight-Swift Transportation warned second-quarter results will come in below earlier expectations on "persistently soft” truckload demand. (Dow Jones Newswires)

Chip materials Wolfspeed struck a 10-year deal to supply Japanese semiconductor Renesas Electronics with wafers. (MarketWatch)

Entegris is building a $600 million semiconductor materials manufacturing site in Colorado Springs, Colo. (Supply Chain Dive)

A U.S. panel says China is dumping freight-rail couplers on the U.S. market, harming American manufacturers. (Progressive Railroading)

Global air cargo traffic fell in May on an annual basis for the fifteenth straight month. (Air Cargo News)

Procurement software provider Caddi raised $89 million in a Series C funding round. (DC Velocity)

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

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