Inventory is turning into one of the biggest factors in the U.S. economy, and the rest of the world. Supply constraints that have challenged businesses and left shortages of everything from semiconductors to consumer goods are deepening, the WSJ’s David Harrison reports, adding to pressure on inflation and undermining the ability of retailers and manufacturers to capitalize on resurgent demand. Retail inventories recently reached another historic low, with merchants on average holding only about one month’s worth of sales in inventory even as shoppers show they’re eager to resume spending. That should trigger manufacturing expansion, but factory activity in the U.S. has been slow to recover from the pandemic. Shipping delays are figuring prominently, forcing companies to make major production and marketing choices. One analysis this month found that supplier delays that have pushed up the cost of manufactured goods around the world will likely persist into 2022.

Supply-chain bottlenecks are turning decision-making at some factories on its head. Sports-vehicle maker Polaris is among an array of companies changing its production and sales strategies on the fly, the WSJ’s Bob Tita writes, as manufacturers cope with shortages of parts and an unreliable global transportation system that has disrupted precise planning. The scrambling on assembly lines is the result of upheaval that has fractured supply chains that over decades have been woven to deliver just enough components to match production schedules and hold down inventory costs. For Polaris, that now means shifting production to other models when there aren’t enough seats for its four-seat all-terrain vehicles while leaving some vehicles unfinished. The company has even redesigned some features to adjust to semiconductor shortages. That’s a reversal of typical strategies in which demand drives production, and it’s triggering changes in procurement practices and supplier relationships.

Supply constraints are growing so strong that Stanley Black & Decker is looking to trade investment for a steadier stream of components. The tool maker is looking to strike partnerships with battery and chip makers, the WSJ’s Nina Trentmann reports, and has one tentative agreement in place with a South Korean battery maker aiming to launch a production line in Malaysia. Suppliers and buyers often have deeply symbiotic relationships but the breadth of the Stanley Black & Decker strategy highlights the impact that shortages in major components are having on procurement as well as operations. The company sources from over 10,000 suppliers globally but spends 80% of its budget on fewer than 1,000 of them, and it has identified around 30 suppliers it considers critical. CFO Donald Allan Jr. says negotiating with suppliers has become “a more important part of my job” under pandemic-driven supply chain disruptions.

An ambitious plan to transform passenger train travel in the U.S. may depend on freight railroads. Amtrak and the Biden administration have a $75 billion program on the drawing boards that would reset the passenger rail network, connecting city pairs and regions in a plan that would effectively extend the profitable Northeast Corridor strategy to the national map. The WSJ’s Ted Mann writes that current and former federal officials say the greatest impediment could be finding a way to work with the freight carriers. Amtrak relies on access to tracks owned by freight railroads across most of the country outside the Northeast. The seven Class 1 operators have long resisted calls to make more room on their tracks for trains carrying people rather than coal, grain and steel. Now the future of both passenger and freight rail operations will depend on resolution of their conflicts.

Natural gas prices are starting the summer nearly twice as high as they were a year ago. (WSJ)

Singapore’s exports rose 8.8% on an annual basis in May, far behind expectations. (MarketWatch)

Producer prices in Germany surged 1.5% from April to May. (Dow Jones Newswires)

A Brussels court ruled that AstraZeneca isn’t required to accelerate deliveries of its Covid-19 vaccine to the European Union. (WSJ)

Chinese is intensifying antitrust scrutiny of domestic internet companies including ride-hailing firm Didi Chuxing and food-delivery service Meituan. (WSJ)

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga named bolstering the domestic semiconductor supply chain as a major priority in his first economic plan. (Nikkei Asia)

The U.S. Postal Service is proposing cost savings by slowing the delivery of parcels traveling over longer distances. (DC Velocity)

Direct-to-consumer online retailer Glossier will start opening physical stores after closing all its locations during the pandemic. (Retail Dive)

Shipping and environmental groups were frustrated by the lack of progress on carbon emissions at an International Maritime Organization environmental meeting. (Lloyd’s List)

Mitsubishi HC Capital is buying New York-traded sea container leasing company CAI International. (gCaptain)

Argentine port worker unions staged a 24-hour strike to press for vaccinations against the coronavirus. (Splash 247))

China Development Bank Leasing is buying 10 product and chemical tankers from Jiangsu New Times Shipbuilding. (Seatrade Maritime)

Multipurpose-vessel owners aren’t ordering new ships despite tight capacity in the market. (Journal of Commerce)

Amazon’s management of people has grown more strained under the pandemic, burning through workers, resulting in inadvertent firings and impeding communication. (New York Times)

Amazon will place an 820,000-square-foot fulfillment center on the site of a shuttered mall in Baton Rouge, La. (Progressive Grocer)

Housewares supplier Helen of Troy plans to build a 2 million-square-foot distribution center northeast of Memphis, Tenn. (Daily Memphian)

Walmart is seeking to patent its automated just-in-time inventory replenishment system. (Supply Chain Dive)

Food and alcohol delivery service Gopuff acquired fleet management platform rideOS for $115 million. (TechCrunch)

The El Pollo Loco restaurant chain will launch drone delivery in Southern California in a service with Flytrex called Air Loco. (Restaurant Dive)

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

Follow the WSJ Logistics Report team: @PaulPage, @jensmithWSJ, @CostasParis. Follow the WSJ Logistics Report on Twitter at @WSJLogistics.