supply chain

AI memory chip shortage set to push car prices toward $60,000

The insatiable appetite of artificial intelligence has created what the tech world now calls "RAMageddon" — a global memory chip shortage that is pushing up prices on everything from laptops and gaming consoles to automobiles and television panels, with no…

Europe’s heat and drought drive shift to climate-resilient farming

Europe's summer of extreme heat and drought is exacting a heavy economic toll, with crop failures, stalled freight traffic on major rivers, and disrupted nuclear power generation combining to threaten growth across the continent. Economists now warn the damage could…

Red Sea and Hormuz disruptions create ‘double whammy’ for global shippers

The world's two most critical maritime chokepoints — the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz — are simultaneously compromised, creating compounding disruptions that have eliminated the fallback options global shippers once relied upon. The convergence marks an unprecedented period…

Cook’s Apple legacy under scrutiny with CEO handoff days away

With less than two weeks until Tim Cook formally hands Apple to his successor, debate over the outgoing CEO's legacy has intensified — fueled by a fresh endorsement from CNBC's Jim Cramer and growing questions about whether supply chain vulnerabilities…

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U.S. holds 70% of global exchange copper as supply squeeze deepens

Copper prices have pulled back from a record high of $14,334 per metric ton reached on August 10, but analysts at Sprott Asset Management and Saxo Bank say the retreat is a correction within a deeper structural tightening that shows…

Rhine water levels inch up but remain near record lows

Water levels on the Rhine, one of Europe's busiest shipping arteries, edged up slightly this week but remain near record lows, disrupting transport and industrial production across the continent. The crisis extends across multiple major waterways, with the Danube, Elbe,…

China’s aluminum exports surge 14% as Iran war guts Gulf output

China has emerged as a critical aluminium supplier for Western markets struggling with severe production disruptions in the Gulf region, where the Iran conflict has knocked out a substantial share of global output. But the shift comes with a catch:…

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Google plans to move all Pixel production out of China by 2027

Google Alphabet Inc. has told suppliers it intends to manufacture all Pixel smartphones, smartwatches, and wireless earbuds outside China starting next year, according to an exclusive report by Nikkei Asia published on Tuesday. The move would make Google the second…

Apple’s foldable iPhone faces supply woes ahead of Sept. 8 unveiling

Apple is expected to unveil its first foldable iPhone at a September 8 event alongside the iPhone 18 Pro lineup, but production constraints and testing issues mean buyers — particularly those outside the United States — may face weeks or…

Global freight rates hit records as wars and drought choke trade routes

Freight rates on several of the world's most critical trade routes have surged to record levels, driven by a convergence of military conflicts across multiple waterways and drought conditions that are choking inland shipping lanes, according to a Financial Times…

Memory chip shortage fuels ‘chipflation’ across consumer electronics worldwide

A global memory chip shortage fueled by voracious AI data center demand is pushing up prices for consumer electronics from smartphones to gaming consoles, in a phenomenon the industry has dubbed "chipflation." The crisis shows no sign of easing, with…

Motor oil shortages deepen as base oil inventories run out amid Hormuz closure

Nearly six months after the U.S.-Israel-Iran conflict erupted in late February 2026, the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed to normal commercial shipping, and the consequences are now reaching well beyond crude oil into petrochemicals, plastics, fertilizers, and the global…

Apple to delay standard iPhone 18 until spring 2027

Apple is set to break from more than a decade of iPhone launch tradition by holding back its standard iPhone 18 until the first quarter of 2027, while reserving its September 2026 event for premium models and the company's first…

European diesel now costlier than jet fuel as global shortage deepens

The world's diesel market is buckling under the weight of simultaneous supply disruptions across multiple regions, as the Strait of Hormuz blockade chokes Middle Eastern fuel flows and Russia slashes exports in response to Ukrainian attacks on its refineries.

LME aluminium stocks sink to 36-year low amid Iran war

London Metal Exchange aluminium stocks have fallen to their lowest level since 1990, halving since the start of 2026 to just 250,000 tonnes, as supply-chain disruptions from the Iran conflict continue to tighten the global market for the lightweight metal.

IEA says Hormuz reopening remains elusive as aluminium supply tightens

The ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz, triggered by the U.S.-Israel air war against Iran that began in late February 2026, has sent shockwaves through global aluminium markets. With the Gulf region accounting for more than 8% of world…

Maersk doubles quarterly profit, raises outlook for second time this year

Maersk A.P. Møller - Mærsk A/S on Thursday reported second-quarter earnings that far exceeded expectations and raised its full-year guidance for the second time in 2026, as port congestion, strong Chinese exports, and disruptions from the Middle East conflict combined…

Apple eyes $100 iPhone price hike amid DRAM shortage

Apple is scaling back its 2026 hardware shipment plans as a worsening global DRAM shortage squeezes production across its lineup, while mounting evidence points to price increases on the iPhone for the first time since the memory crisis began.

Supply chain pressures eased in July before Hormuz flared up again

The ongoing conflict between the United States and Iran continues to roil global energy markets, with the Strait of Hormuz remaining effectively closed to commercial shipping for much of 2026. But a temporary reprieve in oil prices last week translated…

Rhine falls to record low, forcing force majeures across European industry

Europe's Rhine River has fallen to its lowest levels since records began in 1880, crippling inland shipping and forcing major chemical companies to declare force majeure as a prolonged drought and heat wave tighten their grip on the continent.

Bloomberg says iPhone glass redesign on track after reports of cancellation

Jefferies analyst Edison Lee on Monday said Apple has canceled its planned all-glass iPhone, originally expected to debut in September 2027 to mark the device's 20th anniversary, citing poor production yields that made mass manufacturing unviable. Hours later, Bloomberg reported…

Global M&A deal value surges 47% in first half of 2026

Global mergers and acquisitions deal value surged 47 percent year-on-year to $1.7 trillion in the first half of 2026, fueled by falling interest rates and corporate efforts to restructure supply chains in response to shifting trade policies, according to a…

CXMT rejects Apple’s bid for cheaper memory chips

Apple has been testing memory chips from China's ChangXin Memory Technologies across product lines including iPhones and MacBooks, as a global DRAM shortage driven by surging AI demand threatens production of its upcoming iPhone 18 Pro lineup, according to a…

Global smartphone shipments to drop 12% in 2026 amid memory chip crunch

Global smartphone shipments are on track for their steepest annual decline on record as soaring memory chip costs force manufacturers to raise prices and consumers to delay upgrades, according to new data from FDM CCS Insight. The analyst firm projects…

iPhone 18 Pro production costs to jump 38%, TrendForce says

Apple faces a dramatic increase in manufacturing costs for its upcoming iPhone 18 Pro, with new research from TrendForce estimating that the bill of materials for the 256GB model will rise approximately 38% year-over-year, driven primarily by surging memory prices.

Rheinmetall stockpiles €6.2B in supplies to fuel defense production surge

Rheinmetall received approximately €6.2 billion worth of supplies during the second quarter of 2026 to feed its accelerating defense production expansion, a stockpiling effort that drove operating free cash flow to negative €1.33 billion but secured the materials needed to…

HP, Asus, Acer adopt Chinese DRAM as memory shortage grips PC market

A deepening global memory shortage driven by insatiable AI demand is forcing PC makers to downgrade products and seek alternative suppliers, opening the door for Chinese chipmaker ChangXin Memory Technologies to make inroads into Western supply chains.

DRAM shortage may delay TSMC chip deliveries to Apple

A magnitude 7.1 earthquake that struck Japan's Kumamoto Prefecture on July 28 forced the evacuation of staff at TSMC's Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited Japanese subsidiary and temporarily halted operations at one of the world's most strategically important semiconductor clusters.…

Copper hits record high as Congo bans concentrate exports

Copper prices surged to fresh record highs on Thursday after Reuters reported that the Democratic Republic of Congo has banned exports of copper and cobalt concentrates, adding to a cascade of supply disruptions that have propelled the metal more than…

Hormuz crisis rewrites global LPG and fertiliser trade

The Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed more than five months after the U.S.-Israeli air war on Iran began in late February 2026, and the prolonged disruption is now reshaping global trade flows for commodities from liquefied petroleum gas to…