Supply Chain

New York – October 13, 2026 -- Egan-Jones Ratings says inexpensive missiles and drones have given Shiite groups leverage over the chokepoints that carry Middle East petroleum exports, with consequences for global trade and credit markets.

Houthis seize Mayun island as drone strike shuts Saudi pipeline

Yemen-based Houthis have taken control of Mayun, a strategic island in the Red Sea. Saudi Arabia's cross-peninsula pipeline was shut after drones launched from Iraq struck it. Saudi Arabia has fought the Houthis for the past decade without success, which Egan-Jones attributes partly to Yemen's mountainous terrain and the fighters' persistence.

Washington – October 13, 2026 -- Performance Drone Works (PDW) and Revenant Technologies have signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding to identify, evaluate and speed the U.S. production of selected battle-proven Ukrainian defense technologies, with manufacturing anchored at PDW's 90,000-square-foot Drone Factory 01 in Huntsville, Alabama.

The companies will initially evaluate mutually selected opportunities across five areas: unmanned systems, counter-UAS, electronic warfare, sensors and mission-critical components. Opportunities may include complete systems as well as critical components.

Dusseldorf – October 13, 2026 -- Envalior will present a materials toolkit for 800V DC data center infrastructure at Fakuma 2026 in Friedrichshafen, including a Stanyl® CR310 PA46 grade for switchgear arc chambers with a heat deflection temperature [HDT(A)] of 290°C, well above standard PA66. The show runs October 12 to 16, and the company's experts are at Hall B4, stand 4302.

Shift to 800V DC raises demands on arc quenching and connectors

Envalior argues that AI workloads are increasing power density and operating temperatures. Components in power paths and cooling systems must therefore handle higher voltages and thermal loads while protecting costly computing equipment. Martin Burg, Advanced Development Expert at Envalior, said the move to 800V DC requires materials with greater tracking resistance, heat resistance and dimensional stability at high temperatures.

Macon, Ga. – October 13, 2026 -- KaMin and CADAM will raise prices on their kaolin products by up to 9.5% effective October 13, 2026, with the size of the increase depending on grade and region.

Inflation across mining, materials and labor outpaces cost savings

The companies cite broad inflationary pressure across mining, purchased raw materials and labor. Significant increases in energy costs are also hitting the business, they said.

KaMin and CADAM say efficiency improvements and cost-control initiatives have not kept pace. Inflationary pressures continue to exceed those savings, which the companies describe as making the adjustment necessary to sustain product quality, supply reliability and long-term customer support. The cost categories they name as rising are mining, energy, chemicals, logistics, environmental and regulatory.

Vancouver – – October 13, 2026 -- The long-term uranium price closed September at $96.50 per pound, above the $95 peak set in 2007, according to figures published by Cameco. The spot price ended the month at $89.63. Prices utilities agree to pay years in advance now run ahead of spot, which market commentary attributes to buyers planning for tighter supply later in the decade.

Uranium equities fall despite record contract prices

Cameco shares were down 6.9% for the year and 11.6% over the prior month as of early October, according to Yahoo Finance. The VanEck Uranium and Nuclear ETF (NLR) was down 16.4% year to date. Market observers cite utilities' slow pace of new term contracting as one reason the contract price has not yet lifted share prices.

Arlington – October 13, 2026 -- The Department of War has awarded Air a $200 million, five-year contract supporting the U.S. Army's Next Generation Command and Control (NGC2) ecosystem.

Contract extends Air's existing Army partnership through NGC2 development and testing

The award continues a longstanding relationship between Air and the U.S. Army. The company's Enterprise Readiness platform has supplied software for NGC2 from its inception through ongoing development and field testing. According to the company, the software removes operational bottlenecks, speeds mission planning, and shortens sensor-to-shooter-to-sustainer timelines.

LONDON – October 12, 2026 -- Constellation Cold Logistics has acquired Norwegian cold storage operator Impruv Logistics AS, adding 25,000 temperature-controlled pallet positions and lifting its capacity in Norway to 90,000.

Impruv's Langangen site extends Constellation's Nordic platform

Impruv operates a newly developed facility in Langangen, near Porsgrunn in Southern Norway. The site is positioned to serve food producers, importers and distributors across the region, and the business also brings a strong transport presence. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Impruv was founded by food logistics, warehousing and supply chain professionals. According to Chairman Bernt Ove Søvik, the company opened in mid-December 2025 and built its offering around proprietary IT solutions designed to give partners a competitive edge.

Global – October 12, 2026 -- CIQ is providing its Enterprise Linux Manager (ELM) at no additional charge to all RLC Pro subscriptions, giving fleet operators control over when packages reach production hosts.

ELM mirrors upstream repositories onto customer-owned storage

The tool sits between package sources and the hosts that install them. It mirrors upstream repositories onto infrastructure the customer already operates, whether connected or not, so hosts pull from that mirror rather than repeatedly querying off-site lists.

CIQ targets four weak points in the legacy Enterprise Linux model at fleet scale: vendor-wide curation that is not tailored to the customer, every host checking the same external list on its own, manual staging between dev and production, and custom RPMs that sit outside the curated repository and need hand-managed updates.

Henderson – October 12, 2026 -- YMX Logistics has hired Adam Buttgenbach, a fleet executive who previously oversaw more than 110,000 assets globally, as Vice President of Fleet Strategy & Loss Prevention.

The appointment comes as the Henderson, Nevada-based yard logistics provider expands nationwide, according to Chief Operating Officer Erin Mitchell. She said fleet strategy and asset performance are critical to delivering safer, more efficient and more sustainable operations for enterprise customers.

Buttgenbach brings 20-plus years across logistics, procurement and maintenance

Buttgenbach has more than 20 years of leadership experience in logistics, procurement, maintenance and operational transformation. He has led large-scale fleet and equipment organizations with billion-dollar capital investment portfolios.

Henderson, NV – October 12, 2026 -- YMX Logistics has won the 2026 AI Excellence in Supply Chain Award from FreightWaves in the Operational AI Integration category, for results delivered by its Autonomous Yard Operating System (YOS).

FreightWaves honors YMX among five AI winners in logistics

The award recognizes companies producing business outcomes with artificial intelligence across supply chain, transportation and logistics operations. YMX was named alongside four other organizations; FreightWaves publishes the full winners list on its website.

YMX's digital twin engine models layout, fleet, labor and electrification choices

Within the Autonomous YOS, YMX built a decision engine driven by AI and predictive analytics. YMX teams use it to analyze, test and continuously optimize yard operations. The model evaluates: