Oil edged higher on Wednesday, nearing three-year highs reached the previous day, as rising U.S. fuel inventories and production weighed on an otherwise bullish market. Weekly data on Tuesday that showed a rise in U.S. crude inventories also subdued the oil price somewhat. The prospect of fresh sanctions on Tehran and disruption to the country’s oil flows has helped push the oil price to its highest since late 2014 this month.

The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) President and CEO Heidi Brock, representing U.S. pulp, tissue, paper, and paper-based packaging manufacturers, today issued the following statement: “AF&PA appreciates the U.S. government’s engagement in securing an initial EU trade deal that will advance reciprocal, fair and balanced trade between our two economies. As non-tariff trade barrier negotiations continue – and to further support U.S. forest product producers' ability to continue shipping over $3.5 billion in essential products to the EU – we urge the Administration to secure a U.S. exemption from the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). “As recognized by USTR’s April National Trade Estimate Report, EUDR in its current form fails to recognize the realities of robust sustainable forest management (SFM) systems in the United States. Although the United States is not a source of global deforestation concerns, it is subject to many of the same burdensome obligations as countries with high deforestation risks. EUDR’s key compliance barrier, strict geolocation traceability, constitutes a significant non-tariff trade barrier, especially given the nature of U.S. pulp & paper supply chains.

American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index fell 1.7% in April after decreasing 2.8% in March. In April, the index equaled 112.7 (2015=100) compared with 114.7 in March. “While the broader economy continues to surprise and thus far stave off an expected recession, the freight economy is starkly different,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “The goods-portion of the economy is soft and as a result, even contract truck freight is now falling, albeit not nearly as much as the spot market. The tonnage index hit the lowest level since September 2021 in April and has now fallen on a year-over-year basis for two straight months.” March’s decline was revised up from our April 18 press release. Compared with April 2022, the SA index decreased 3.4%, which was the largest year-over-year decrease since February 2021. In March, the index was down 2.4% from a year earlier.