One of the nation’s largest retailers is paring its inventories by expanding its distribution network. Big-box merchant Target says the addition of smaller warehouses and what it calls flow centers is helping deliver online orders faster and speed up store replenishment, as the company gets its supply chain better aligned with consumer demand. The WSJ Logistics Report’s Liz Young writes the tactic is part of a broader effort across the retail sector to bring goods closer to consumers, stepping up the pace in supply chains and helping keep more inventory on the move rather than sitting in big warehouses. Target says changes including smaller distribution sites helped it improve its in-stock inventory rates last quarter even as inventories tumbled by 17%. Walmart is making a similar push by using its stores more often for fulfillment and increasing automation so it can “shorten the last mile.”

• Second-quarter sales at Kohl’s fell 4.8% and revenue was 16.5% behind​ the 2019 level. (Barron’s)
• Foot Locker lowered its outlook after the athletic apparel retailer’s sales fell 10% last quarter. (WSJ)
• Elevated costs, declining subscriber numbers and high inventories sent Peloton Interactive to another quarterly loss. (WSJ)
• Bath & Body Works is projecting a 2.5% to 4% decline in sales this quarter. (Dow Jones Newswires)

Some mining companies are taking their hunt for materials that can power the global energy transition to city scrapyards. Rio Tinto and Glencore have signed deals this year to expand critical metals recycling, the WSJ’s Rhiannon Hoyle and Julie Steinberg report, branching out from investments in operations that involve running giant mines in countries including the U.S., Australia and Congo. They and others are betting that makers of cars and consumer electronics will increasingly demand sustainably sourced metals. They are also looking to head off a potential threat from rising scrap-metal supply. Miners also see an opportunity for profit. Several decades of industrialization in China is expected to start throwing off more secondhand metal, which companies hope can be recycled and sold again. Still, margins on the business typically are thinner than running large mines, and many customers such as aircraft manufacturers need new metal.

• China’s economic woes present a challenge to the commodities-hauling dry-bulk shipping sector. (Lloyd’s List)

Sales of newly-built homes in the U.S. rose in July at the fastest pace since February 2022. (MarketWatch)

A measure of Australia’s business activity moved deeper into contraction territory in July. (MarketWatch)

Chip maker Nvidia reported record quarterly sales and projected that surging interest in artificial intelligence is propelling its business faster than expected. (WSJ)

Esmark dropped out of the bidding for U.S. Steel. (WSJ) 

Climate scientists say worsening wildfires, flooding and heatwaves will happen more often and affect more people. (WSJ)

Mallinckrodt plans to file for bankruptcy under a restructuring deal as the drug maker struggles with opioid-settlement payments. (WSJ)

Japanese manufacturers Mitsubishi Chemical and Zeon are moving to increase battery material production in North America for electric vehicles. (Nikkei Asia)

Container throughput at Germany’s Port of Hamburg fell 11.7% in the first half of the year. (Journal of Commerce)

Norwegian startup Pherousa Green Shipping plans to order six mid-size, ammonia-fueled dry bulk vessels for hauling copper. (MarineLink)

A BW-operated liquefied natural gas carrier ran aground in the Suez Canal and was hit by a product tanker. (TradeWinds)

Indonesia’s Express Cargo Airlines became the country’s third airfreight carrier to launch operations this year. (Payload Asia)

German airline startup Universal Sky Carrier won regulatory approval to start freighter operations. (Air Cargo News)

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.