Supply Chain

Seoul – October 29, 2026 -- SK hynix posted third-quarter revenue of 104.6155 trillion won and operating profit of 83.3338 trillion won, an operating margin of 80%. Quarterly revenue has now topped 100 trillion won for the first time in the company's history. Net profit reached 39.7756 trillion won, a 38% net margin.

Revenue rose 32% and operating profit 38% from the second quarter, when the company reported revenue of 79.3187 trillion won and operating profit of 60.5426 trillion won. SK hynix attributed the gain to higher prices for key products amid rising demand for AI memory.

HBM4 shipments begin in earnest as server DDR5 sales climb

In DRAM, results were driven by a significant increase in server DDR5 sales, and HBM4 shipments started in earnest. In NAND, sales of 321-layer TLC eSSD expanded, and data-center products continued to grow across the board.

Corpus Christi, Texas – October 29, 2026 -- Two tankers carrying 1 million barrels of Venezuelan crude produced by North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP) have arrived in Corpus Christi, the first shipment since the company's deal with the U.S. government.

U.S. government buys 20% of NABEP output at cost under August agreement

The cargo falls under the U.S. right to purchase 20% of NABEP's production at cost, with no markup. The right is part of NABEP's August agreement with the U.S. Departments of State and War. The government also received a 35% equity stake in NABEP's parent company. According to the company, the U.S. secured both at no cost to American taxpayers.

President Donald J. Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited the Port of Corpus Christi on Tuesday to see one of the tankers.

MILAN – October 29, 2026 -- Bracco Imaging will invest $230 million to build its first U.S. manufacturing facility for injectable contrast media in Sanford, North Carolina, creating an expected 200 jobs.

Plant targets the company's largest market

The United States is Bracco's largest market. The sterile manufacturing site will add U.S. production capacity for injectable contrast media used in diagnostic imaging. Bracco says the added capacity will help it meet growing demand and respond to customer needs.

The facility will join existing production operations in Europe, Asia and Canada, giving the company a more geographically diversified manufacturing network. Bracco frames the project as a supply chain resilience measure.

BENGALURU – October 29, 2026 -- Zetwerk Manufacturing Businesses Ltd. says it can deliver power transformers in the US within 12 to 15 months, against industry averages of 36 to 42 months, after completing the installation of a Zetwerk-manufactured unit in North Carolina with its US subsidiary Unimacts.

Energy revenue rises 86.90% to ₹6,507.57 crore

Zetwerk's Energy vertical generated ₹6,507.57 crore (₹65,075.72 million) in FY26, up 86.90% year on year. It contributed 69.42% of the company's Manufacturing revenue. In FY2026 the company received power transformer orders worth ₹2,032.25 crore (₹20,322.52 million).

Jersey City – October 29, 2026 -- Oishii, operator of what it calls the world's largest indoor vertical Smart Farm, will reach more than 500 U.S. retail locations across 25 states by the end of 2026, more than doubling its points of distribution, after adding Walmart, The Fresh Market and Giant Food as first-time retail partners.

Four chains add more than 220 stores in the Q4 rollout

Walmart will carry Oishii strawberries in 78 stores across New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The Fresh Market adds 84 stores across the Southeast, including first-time entry into North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Giant Food brings 30 stores in Maryland and Virginia.

Existing partner Sprouts Farmers Market adds 34 stores in Florida and Georgia. Oishii has grown its Sprouts presence from 20 to 65 locations, a 225% increase, since its initial Northeast launch.

Denver – October 29, 2026 -- Earlytrade, a construction fintech that has negotiated more than $3 billion in early payments globally, has named Palmer Consulting Group its preferred CMiC integration and implementation partner. Palmer will also offer Earlytrade to its CMiC clients as its recommended early payment provider.

General contractors on CMiC can connect to Earlytrade in six to eight weeks

Palmer configures the integration to each general contractor's CMiC environment and guides implementation and adoption. Initial deployments target CMiC on-premise and PaaS environments. CMiC Cloud capabilities are planned as part of the joint roadmap.

Finance teams keep their current accounting workflows, and approved subcontractor invoices become available for early payment.

Boston – October 29, 2026 -- Demand for key critical minerals will reach roughly 120% to 250% of forecast supply through 2040, and industrial companies are underestimating their exposure, according to a Boston Consulting Group (BCG) report. BCG's proprietary model covers rare earths, graphite, copper and lithium. The report, "Why Critical Mineral Shortages Are a CEO Issue," says three blind spots in standard risk metrics hide where the danger sits.

Gallium market under $350 million underpins $3.5 trillion of products

BCG calls the most overlooked inputs "mosquito minerals": their traded value is so small that they never reach a risk register. Gallium is traded in a market worth under $350 million a year, with production of about 900 tons. BCG estimates about $3.5 trillion of final products depend on it.

United States – October 29, 2026 -- SupplyOne cut the average pack size by more than 20% for a nationwide distributor of new OEM automotive parts, lowering the customer's dimensional-weight shipping costs.

Manual RSC box assembly could not keep pace with order growth

The distributor runs strategically located distribution centers and more than 250 retail locations. As order volume grew, it needed to move beyond manually assembled RSC boxes. The new process had to support both retail distribution and online fulfillment.

Rightsized carton equipment forms trays at each packing station

SupplyOne built the program around speed, consistency, branding and freight efficiency. Its automated pack-out equipment forms right-sized trays automatically at each packing station, which reduces manual box setup.

SupplyOne also developed large and small corrugated trays with custom printed lids. Online orders carry their own branded graphics.

Global – October 29, 2026 -- SupplyOne cut lead times for a global performance materials manufacturer from approximately 6 weeks to 2 weeks by moving key packaging materials from an international supplier to a domestic source.

The customer had struggled with long lead times, supply inconsistencies and packaging performance problems across thermoformed trays, stretch film and corrugated. SupplyOne built a multi-category program around domestic sourcing, inventory support and material optimization.

SupplyOne replaces international supplier with domestic source under stocking agreement

The stocking agreement improved availability and supply continuity for the manufacturer's key materials, in addition to the shorter lead times.

United States – October 29, 2026 -- Section 848 of the FY2020 National Defense Authorization Act restricts the U.S. Department of Defense from operating or procuring certain drones tied to China, Russia, Iran and North Korea, and its reach extends past the aircraft's assembly location to components, software and data services.

Section 848 covers flight controllers, radios, cameras and data storage

A drone assembled in the United States or another approved country is not automatically NDAA compliant. Restricted components, software or data services used elsewhere in the system can disqualify it. Buyers must trace the origin of flight controllers, radios, data-transmission devices, cameras and gimbals. Ground-control systems, operating software, network connectivity and data storage also affect compliance.