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Supply Chain by the Numbers
   
 

- Oct. 31, 2024

   
 

Supply Chain by the Numbers for October 31, 2024

   
 

US Q3 GDP comes in OK. VW Makes Shocking Moves on its Factories. Old Man River in Trouble again. Chinese Dominate Key Minerals

 
 
 
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3

 

That is at least how many factories in Germany that usually mighty automaker Volkswagen plans to close soon, the company announced this week to shocked employees. If the plants are indeed shuttered, the domestic factory closures would be the first in Volkswagen’s 87-year history. The car maker currently operates 10 factories in its home county, employing some 300,000 workers of all types. But now VW not only plans on the actual full closures but also downsizing operations at many of the remaining German plants, laying off tens of thousands of workers in the process. The German and EU push for electric cars is getting some of the blame for VW’s woes.

 
 
 
 
 
 

67%

 

That is the percent of the mineral cobalt - a crucial component in electric vehicle batteries and many other electronics products – that is controlled by Chinese mining companies in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). That according to a new report this week from London-based minerals research and pricing firm Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. That large level of Chinese production represents an amazing 74% of global cobalt production, the report also estimated. In fact, the report noted that Chinese control of cobalt and other mineral resources from Africa may be a complication for US plans to de-risking supply chains. The study also found that Chinese firms are deeply embedded in the DRC’s mining sector, having secured several of the country’s key assets in the past decade as Western countries ceded many of these interests to China.

 
 
 

2.8%

 


That was the annualized rate of US real GDP growth in Q3, according to the Commerce Department this week. That was decent growth, but below the 3.1% consensus estimate from economists and the 3.0% reading seen in Q2. However, there was good news on the inflation front: The personal consumption expenditures price index, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, rose just 1.5% for the quarter, below the central bank’s 2% target and sharply down from the 2.5% increase in Q2.

 

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53%

That is the percent of territory that feeds the Mississippi River that is currently in drought conditions. The result: the mighty Mississippi is suffering from low waters for the third straight autumn, a crucial time of year when American farmers rely on the route to deliver their crops to the world. Months of limited rainfall — with few chances for more during the rest of the season — have left the vital waterway so shallow that barges are starting to run aground, even after shippers started running lighter loads to prevent boats from hitting the river bottom. The drying of the Mississippi over the past three years is also raising shipping costs and hindering US farmers’ ability to compete for markets overseas.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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