This week in interesting industry headlines: 

Florida readies for Tropical Storm Erika [Miami Herald]

"Haiti and the Dominican Republic braced for Tropical Storm Erika Friday morning as it churned westward on a course that could have the storm making landfall in southwest Florida Monday morning." Read more

Brazil Expected to be Major Exporter [Agriculture.com]

"Brazil, the fifth most populous nation, suddenly is second to the U.S. as the world’s largest agricultural exporter and has room to expand production." Read more

Miners Cozying Up With Rivals to Endure Commodity Turmoil [Bloomberg Business]

"Those deals are part of a nascent trend to join forces to run mines or to develop projects that might otherwise face cancellation or long delays. It’s a contrast from just a few years ago when companies preferred, and investors rewarded, simple ownership structures and decision-making." Read more

This week in interesting industry headlines: 

Nonresidential Construction Sector Continues Steady Pace Despite Drop in Overall Economy [For Construction Pros]

"The construction industry continues to proceed on the recovery track, although it is showing signs of a minor deceleration,” said Chris Daum, president and senior managing director of investment banking at FMI. “Despite the decrease in projected backlog and the squeeze from rising material costs, executives in our industry are still bullish and hold positive outlooks overall." Read more

Central America issues alert as severe drought hits agriculture [Yahoo News]

"Central American and Caribbean governments on Thursday issued an officia

l alert as severe drought in the region damages the crops of some 1.6 million people." Read more

Oil Companies Sit on Hands at Auction for Leases [The New York Times]

"It was the clearest sign yet that the fortunes of oil companies are skidding so fast that they now need to cut back on plans for production well into the future." Read more

Interesting industry headlines from this week:

New Cat Monitoring System to Address the 'Human Factor' [Construction Equipment Guide]

"Inside Caterpillar’s 24/7 monitoring center, analysts correlate data about the health and productivity of operators and equipment to reveal the magnitude of conditions such as fatigue and distraction and their impact on operations." See more

Inside Shell's Extreme Plan to Drill for Oil in the Arctic [Bloomberg Business]

"Even sympathetic observers find it curious, though, that Shell and Shell alone sees future profit in the Chukchi, especially after its misadventures there in 2012. Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Statoil, and Total have all put Arctic plans on hold." See more

Japan, China vie to build high-speed rail in Indonesia [The Japan Times]

"President Joko Widodo has ambitious plans to improve Indonesia’s infrastructure, which could boost manufacturing and create hundreds of thousands of new jobs." See more

Interesting industry headlines from this week: 

Construction in New York City Goes Through The Roof [Wall Street Journal]

"New York City is entering what could be the biggest building boom in a generation, census figures show, as work gets under way on hundreds of residential projects in neighborhoods across the city." Read more

NASA, USDA agreement could lead to major farming improvements [KTAR News]

"USDA Deputy Secretary Krysta Harden said the deal could use NASA satellite images to help the farmers deal with a lack of water and other problems in their fields." Read more

Industry headlines this week focused on China's stock market distress, along with reports of construction contraction in the UK and environmental concerns over deep sea mining. 

Interesting industry headlines from this week:

Oil rigs back in service in U.S., Canada as prices stabilize [CBC]

"The number of North American oil rigs in use is up for the first time since December, as oil's sustained period in the $58 to $60 range encouraged drillers to turn on the taps." Read more

U.S. Construction Spending Hits New Postrecession High [The Wall Street Journal]

"U.S. construction spending advanced 0.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.036 trillion in May, the highest level since October 2008, the Commerce Department said Wednesday." Read more

Interesting industry headlines from this week:

EPA proposes tougher mileage standards for trucks [Fox News]

"The Environmental Protection Agency issued new rules that would lower carbon dioxide emissions from trucks and vans by 24 percent by 2027." Read more

Russia, Greece agree to build gas pipeline [Yahoo News]

"Moscow announced the creation of the Turkish Stream project last year after it cancelled its South Stream gas pipeline to southeastern Europe -- which was already under construction -- as relations with the EU reached a nadir over Ukraine." Read more

Interesting industry headlines from this week:

Industry Grapples With Vanishing Workforce [Construction Equipment Guide]

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that when it comes to employment numbers, there should be plenty of workers in hard-hats looking for jobs. But if workers are out there, builders can’t seem to find them. Read more

Fleet managers need to keep track of a thousand different details: Working hours, driving time, which equipment is in use and when. Which equipment is in working order? How old is each piece? When do warrantees expire? How is the team tracking on fleet maintenance schedules? What items are likely to need replacement in the near future? That extensive list doesn’t even get into fuel management and driver dispatching and messaging.

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