Key Currency Exchange Rates for Friday, 3/25/22

American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index increased 1% in December after rising 0.5% in November. In December, the index equaled 114.7 (2015=100) compared with 113.5 in November. “December’s gain was the fifth straight totaling 4.4%,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “In December, tonnage reached the highest level since March, but it was still 2.7% below the pre-pandemic high. This is likely due to the fact ATA’s data is dominated by contract freight. Contractor truckload carriers operated fewer trucks in 2021 compared with 2020 and it is difficult to haul significantly more tonnage with fewer trucks. But overall, we have seen a nice trend up that is reflective of a still growing goods-economy.” November’s reading was revised down from our December 21 press release.

Motor fuel prices slipped 1.2 percent on Friday, the first decline in front-month futures in almost two weeks, after a 25 percent gain in August. Crude in New York extended declines following the worst month since March. About 4.4 million barrels a day of U.S. refining capacity remains shuttered. The government plans to supply 1 million barrels of crude from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to a Gulf Coast plant, the first emergency release in five years. Hurricane Harvey cut U.S. refining capacity to the lowest level since 2008 after its initial strike on the Texas coast late last week. It returned as a storm to hit Louisiana on Wednesday, bringing torrential rains that shut the biggest U.S. refinery, owned by Motiva Enterprises LLC in Port Arthur, Texas. The lack of production forced Colonial Pipeline Co. to curb flows to a link that carries fuels to the Northeast. Valero Energy Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc told wholesale customers Wednesday they don’t have enough gasoline and diesel to sell. Click Read More below for additional detail.

American Dollar to Canadian Dollar = 0.782780; American Dollar to Chinese Yuan = 0.151320; American Dollar to Euro = 1.179860; American Dollar to Japanese Yen = 0.008915; American Dollar to Mexican Peso = 0.052188.