Key Currency Exchange Rates for Friday, 3/02/21

American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index increased 0.4% in October after rising 2.2% in September. In October, the index equaled 113 (2015=100) compared with 112.6 in September. “October’s gain was the third straight totaling 2.9%,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “The combination of solid retail sales, inventory rebuilding, and generally higher factory output offset some areas of softer freight growth, like home construction, in October. “Economic growth remains on solid footing, which is good for truck freight volumes going forward. The largest problem for the industry isn’t the amount of demand, but making sure we have adequate supply. It is good to see that fleets were able to haul more tonnage in recent months in the face of constrained supply,” he said. September’s reading was revised down slightly to 2.2% from our October 19 press release.

Oil has been trading in a tight range this month, with prices hovering around $60 a barrel as rising U.S. output continues to stoke fears that a shale boom will limit price increases. Still, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allied producers are continuing production cuts in an effort to drain a global glut and help prop up prices. A robust global economy has also led banks including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to project strong demand for oil this year. The IEA raised its estimate for global oil demand growth by 90,000 barrels a day to 1.5 million a day in 2018 as a stronger outlook for developed economies offsets weakening expectations for emerging nations. Steady growth was also reflected in the American Petroleum Institute’s latest report showing U.S. oil consumption rose to the highest in 11 years even as crude production hit a new monthly record. Click Read More below for additional information.

Continuing the pioneering trend; first to market with new technology and breakthrough sheetfed ink formulations, Flint Group today announces the global launch of its latest version UV LED process inks, XCURA EVO. ““EVO” is short for evolutionary,” explains Trevor Amps, Global Product Management Director for Energy Curing inks. “This signals a step change from our world renowned XCURA formulations which, for the past four years, have served our customers very well as an industry leader. XCURA EVO is our next generation offer to the UV LED and low energy sheetfed market, and we are very pleased to announce its global launch today.” “More and more sheetfed press manufacturers are heading their technology development with LED and low energy curing, and we see growing numbers of retro-fit conversions from lamp providers and OEMs as well,” stated Mr Amps. “Some of the main drivers encouraging commercial printers to switch to UV LED are improved efficiency, reduced energy costs and the ability to break into new markets. XCURA EVO helps to maximise all of these with its excellent flow characteristic, superb transfer and high gloss.” Click Read More below for additional detail.