Key Currency Exchange Rates for Friday, 8/06/21

Prices are being affected by “a bullish oil-inventory report” from the U.S., said Michael Poulsen, an analyst at Global Risk Management Ltd. U.S. storage dropped by 4.62 million barrels to 425.3 million barrels last week, while outbound shipments of crude expanded to a record, according to an Energy Information Administration report Wednesday. The EIA data also showed that American oil production rose to an unprecedented 10.5 million barrels a day, topping the 10 million-barrel level for a ninth week. Global markets from equities to oil recovered after investor optimism grew that the U.S. and China will step back from the brink of a trade war. Click Read More below for additional information.

Georgia-Pacific has agreed to partner with self-driving vehicle startup Gatik and KBX Logistics, the transportation arm for Koch Industries, to deliver its consumer products to more than 30 Sam’s Club locations in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The collaboration involves moving Georgia-Pacific shipments from point to point on predefined short-haul routes using an autonomous vehicle fleet with 26-foot boxes. The trucks will deliver goods 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and are expected to travel up to three hundred miles daily. “We are looking forward to testing this transformational technology to deliver Georgia-Pacific brands like Quilted Northern® bath tissue and Dixie® products to Sam’s Clubs,” said Hayes Shimp, vice president of sales for Georgia-Pacific. “Once proven, we believe autonomous deliveries will enable us to remove cost and complexity from the supply chain to better serve our partner, Sam’s Club, and their members.” The operation involves Class 6 vehicles, which are significantly smaller than the Class 8 trucks that currently manage the deliveries. “Our partnership with Georgia-Pacific and KBX Logistics is poised to transform regional distribution architecture that has traditionally relied on class 8 platforms,” said Gautam Narang, CEO, and co-founder, of Gatik.

Oil prices edged lower on Friday and were on track for weekly losses, weighed down by rising Opec exports and strong output from the US. Brent crude futures, the international benchmark, were trading at $51.61 a barrel at 9.58am GMT, 40c below the last close and heading for a fall of more than 1.5% on the week. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were 40c lower at $48.63 a barrel and were set to drop by just more than 2% for the week.