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Trade Wars
China Factories Log Fastest Growth In A Year As War Risks Loom Large
China's factory activity grew at the fastest pace in a year in March, underpinned by improved demand, an official survey showed on Tuesday, a welcome relief for an economy grappling with global supply chain strains and energy market volatility. The stronger reading eases pressure on policymakers, though its durability is in doubt as surging energy prices driven by the Middle East war, and heightened growth risks, pose fresh headwinds for manufacturers reliant on exports and operating on thin margins.
The official manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) rose to 50.4 from 49.0 in February, above the 50-threshold and hitting the highest point in 12 months, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed. The manufacturing PMI was in contraction for most of 2025 and the first two months of 2026. China's goods exports continued to power growth in January and February after last year's record $1.2 trillion trade surplus, buoyed by firm global demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors. The commerce ministry said last week the momentum looked set to hold, even as geopolitical strains linger. Yet the war in the Middle East is raising concerns for policymakers. The sub-index for purchase prices of main raw materials jumped to 63.9 in March from 54.8 in February, driven by rising bulk commodity prices and faster procurement by companies, the NBS said.
Read more at Reuters
Unilever, McCormick Close In On Deal To Create $60 Billion Food Giant
Unilever said on Tuesday it was in advanced talks to combine its food business with spice maker McCormick in a potential deal that would deliver roughly $15.7 billion in cash to the consumer goods giant while giving its shareholders majority control of the merged entity. If completed, the transaction would be structured as a so-called Reverse Morris Trust, which offers tax benefits. Unilever would spin off the division and then merge it with the Cholula hot sauce owner. It is expected that Unilever shareholders would retain a 65% stake in the combined entity.
Unilever traces its roots in the food sector to 1860, when one of its Dutch founding families began building up its business in the butter trade. Unilever itself was created in 1929 when Margarine Unie and Lever Brothers joined in what was at the time one of the biggest industrial mergers in European history. The rise of GLP-1 weight loss drugs in recent years has further eroded demand and investors’ faith in packaged food, especially due to stiff competition from cheaper private label brands that make similar products. Though Unilever’s food unit is a high-margin business, sales growth has lagged the company’s personal goods and beauty businesses and weighed on its ambition to increase overall sales by 4%-6% in the near term.
Read more at CNBC
America Downs Cheap Drones With Million-Dollar Missiles. A Fix Is In the Works.
The U.S. is shooting down cheap Iranian drones with missiles that can cost upward of a million dollars. Jason Cornelius is making a missile in Texas that he says will cost $10,000. The former NASA engineer’s company is one of a host of startups and big defense contractors racing to develop cheaper missiles to intercept the drones that now are proliferating in modern warfare. The company started with a simple idea: Can we produce a smaller, cheaper and quicker-to-make version of the AIM-9 Sidewinder, one of the world’s most used air-defense missiles?
Wars in the Middle East and Ukraine have put a spotlight on how limited supplies of sophisticated missiles—including multimillion-dollar Patriot interceptors—are sometimes being used to defend against mass-produced drones that cost just a few thousand dollars. Startups are now tweaking designs, using off-the-shelf parts and switching to automated manufacturing to bring down prices. Soon they will be able to churn out missiles that cost tens of thousands of dollars, not hundreds of thousands or more, they say.
Read more at the WSJ
U.S. Army Boosts Ammo Production Support Efforts
The United States Army has launched a new effort to improve how it produces and manages ammunition, issuing a contract notice on March 27 for engineering support services worth up to $44.6 million. The work will focus on upgrading and supporting the country’s Ammunition Industrial Base, with proposals due by April 20, 2026. Demand for conventional munitions has increased in recent years, placing pressure on factories and supply chains. The new contract is intended to help identify weaknesses, improve processes, and support long-term modernization across multiple production sites in the United States.
According to the notice, the Army is looking for contractors to assist with both government-owned and commercial ammunition facilities. The goal is to “sustain the organic and commercial conventional Ammunition Industrial Base (Ammo IB) and achieve greater effectiveness and efficiency,” the Army said in the solicitation. The selected contractors will support a wide range of activities. These include helping manage production programs, analyzing factory performance, and advising on upgrades to aging infrastructure. They will also be tasked with conducting technical studies, such as cost-benefit analysis and risk assessments, to guide decisions on how to improve the system.
Read more at American Machinist
Chobani Strengthens Commitment to Michigan with $567 Million Expansion of La Colombe Plant
Chobani is making a major investment in West Michigan with a multi‑phase, $567 million expansion of its La Colombe plant, that is expected to add over 200,000 square feet of production space and nearly 340 new jobs, while retaining 312 jobs. The announcement comes at a pivotal moment as demand surges for La Colombe's signature ready-to-drink lattes.
La Colombe first started in Philadelphia in 1994, making high-quality, expertly crafted coffee in cafés across the country. In 2016, the brand launched its signature ready-to-drink lattes, bringing the coffeehouse experience into hands across the country. Made in Norton Shores with locally-sourced Michigan milk, La Colombe lattes helped redefine the ready-to-drink coffee category with cleaner ingredients, less sugar, and better nutrition — quickly becoming a daily staple for everyday people.
Read more at PR Newswire
GM to Boost Heavy-Duty Truck Production
General Motors will run its heavy-duty truck plant in Michigan six days a week starting in June, citing strong demand for its most powerful pickups even as gas and diesel prices rise. Flint Assembly plant currently runs around the clock on three shifts, five days a week. The additional production day will allow the plant to churn out more Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups. The plant produces the heavy-duty versions of those trucks, the 2500 and 3500, with about 1,100 a day rolling off the line, according to a United Auto Workers official.
The automaker also builds the heavy-duty Silverado at a plant in Ontario, Canada. Since automotive tariffs were introduced a year ago, GM has been maximizing production at U.S. factories to avoid the additional duties. The additional volume at Flint won’t affect production at the Canadian plant, a GM spokesman said. Started in 1947, Flint Assembly is GM’s longest-running assembly site in North America. It employs about 4,200 hourly workers, who will be mandated into overtime hours to cover the additional day of production. GM’s heavy-duty pickups are sold to businesses like construction companies, as well as to individual customers. They are priced to start in the $50,000 range and, with options, can push up to six figures.
Read more at the WSJ
FANUC to Build New $90M Michigan Plant
FANUC America announced March 24 that it would spend $90 million to build a new 840,000-square-foot factory in Michigan to increase production of its manufacturing robot products. In a company statement, the Rochester Hills, Michigan-based robotics and automation firm said the new factory is expected to be finished in 2027 and create 225 jobs. The latest announcement brings FANUC’s U.S. investments since 2019 to under $300 million. Company leadership said the new factory would quicken delivery speed as well as access to training services.
FANUC America CEO Mike Cicco said his company “is committed to supporting U.S. reindustrialization by delivering state-of-the-art automation technologies to customers and broadening access to advanced manufacturing workplace training services.” Cicco added the company is also developing a robotics and automation “skills development center,” Fanuc Academy, in nearby Auburn Hills, Michigan, which is expected to open later this year. The Academy, Cicco said, will help “address the national manufacturing skills gap, rising demand for automation talent, the shift toward AI-enabled robotics and the country’s overall competitiveness.”
Read more at American Machinist
Unilever Imposes Global Hiring Freeze, Cites War Effects: Memo
Dove soap maker Unilever (ULVR.L), opens new tab has implemented a global hiring freeze "at all levels" that will last at least three months, citing the effects of the widening conflict in the Middle East, according to a memo seen by Reuters. In the memo, sent to staff late last week and previously unreported, Unilever said the freeze would take effect immediately and was made with an eye on the "significant challenges" from the month-old Iran war. The freeze comes on top of an existing cost-cutting program Unilever has had in place since 2024, meant to save around 800 million euros ($916.72 million) in costs over the next three years.
The London-based consumer products giant owns some of the world's most prominent brands. While it produces most of its goods where it sells them, it buys chemicals, food, packaging and other raw materials that are energy-intensive to create. “Macro economic and geopolitical realities, especially in the Middle East conflict... bring some significant challenges for the coming few months," Fabian Garcia, head of Unilever's personal care business, wrote in the memo sent to staff.
Read more at Hoodline
GM Temporarily Lays Off 1,300 Workers At Factory Zero EV Plant
General Motors has temporarily laid off around 1,300 workers at its Factory Zero electric vehicle plant in Michigan for a 30-day period as the automaker adjusts production to meet market demand for EVs, the automaker confirmed to WardsAuto. The layoffs at GM’s former Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly plant converted to produce EVs were effective on March 16 and will extend through April 13, GM spokesperson Kevin Kelly confirmed to WardsAuto, citing Reuters.
“Factory ZERO will temporarily adjust production to align EV production with market demand. Impacted employees will be placed on a temporary layoff and may be eligible for sub-pay and benefits in accordance with the GM-UAW national contract,” Kelly said in an emailed statement to WardsAuto. Last October, GM announced it was cutting roughly 3,400 jobs at its electric vehicle and battery plants in the U.S. on slower than expected EV demand. The automaker confirmed last year it was cutting 1,200 workers at Factory Zero, which were effective Jan. 5.
Read more at Ward’s Auto
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