Sanctions on Russia’s crude transport are fueling the growth of new tanker operations that are aimed at keeping the country’s oil flowing. Upstart companies have been buying up aging oil tankers to replace Western-owned tankers that are no longer dealing with Russia, creating a kind of parallel, shadow fleet to get Russian crude to buyers in Asia. The WSJ’s Joe Wallace, Costas Paris and Anna Hirtenstein report that one of the most active is Mumbai-based Gatik Ship Management, which didn’t manage a single vessel until last year but has since taken control of two dozen tankers that are operating on new trade routes. The business shows how the sanctions have upended Russian exports, and triggered an upheaval in broader energy markets. Many tanker owners won’t touch Russian products, which now sell mostly to markets in Asia that require longer and costlier sailings compared with exports to Europe.

• Russia is undertaking ship-to-ship oil transfers at the Spanish enclave of Ceuta on the North African coast to save on shipping costs. (Quartz)

The consumer spending that has been the engine of the U.S. economy is starting to sputter. Retail purchases have fallen in three of the past four months and even spending on services that had surged last year was flat in December. The WSJ’s Harriet Torry and Joe Pinsker write the wavering figures mark a stark turnaround from spending during much of the pandemic, when consumer trends helped the country avoid a prolonged slump. Now the forces that helped keep spending high are unwinding, while inflation remains elevated. The share of monthly income Americans set aside for savings is sliding while credit card interest rates are rising. Recent layoff trends and the inflation that skyrocketed last year have raised concerns among many Americans. Freight carriers are seeing the impact, as the number of big and bulky shipments declines and retail customers continue to pare inventories and push back restocking.

• A measure of U.S. consumer sentiment improved in late January and inflation expectations moderated. (MarketWatch)
• Whirlpool is projecting falling revenue this year after net sales dropped 15% year-over-year last quarter. (WSJ)
• Levi’s was unable to fill about $40 million in wholesale orders last quarter due to capacity constraints at U.S. distribution centers. (Modern Retail)

The eu­ro­zone econ­omy grew at a 0.5% annual rate in the fourth quarter. (WSJ)

China’s official gauges measuring manufacturing, services and construction activity all rebounded sharply in January. (MarketWatch)

The International Monetary Fund raised its outlook for global economic growth this year. (WSJ)

The Biden administration is considering entirely cutting off Huawei Technologies from U.S. suppliers by tightening export controls. (WSJ)

TravelCenters of America and Electrify America plan to build around 1,000 electric-car fast chargers across the U.S. starting this year. (WSJ)

Nissan and Renault agreed to reorganize their alliance. (WSJ)

A federal appeals court rejected Johnson & Johnson's use of a controversial legal strategy to push roughly 40,000 talc lawsuits to bankruptcy court. (WSJ)

High inventory levels are expected to keep memory-chip prices falling in the first half of 2023. (WSJ)

Sony moved production of cameras sold in Japan, Europe and the U.S. from China to Thailand. (Nikkei Asia)

Apple supplier Jabil has started making components for AirPods in India. (Bloomberg)

Procter & Gamble is opening a distribution center in Greece that will be its main logistics hub for Europe. (Greek City Times)

JD.com is dropping its e-commerce sites in Thailand and Indonesia to focus on logistics and China sales. (South China Morning Post)

Longshore workers at West Coast ports have been undertaking low-level job actions disrupting the flow of cargo. (Journal of Commerce)

Shippers have lodged more than 200 complaints with U.S. maritime regulators over carrier behavior. (ShippingWatch)

Spanish authorities seized 4.5 metric tons of cocaine from a livestock carrier off the Canary Islands. (Maritime Executive)

A.P. Moller-Maersk is using drones to manage inventory counts​ in its warehouse network. (DC Velocity)

The California Trucking Association is again asking a court to block the state from enforcing its new independent-contractor law. (Commercial Carrier Journal)

Union Pacific ended a weather-related embargo on rail shipments in the upper Midwest. (Trains)

Orders for new railcars in the U.S. fell 57% in the fourth quarter. (Railway Age)

A boy playing hide-and-seek in a shipping container in Bangladesh fell asleep and ended up at Port Klang in Malaysia. (India Times)

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.