Read the latest news from Germany, Europe and the world. Ernst Russ brings the news of the day & top breaking headlines on shipping, real estate and economy.
(gcaptain) 2023 has seen new regulations on efficiency and carbon intensity from the International Maritime Organization (IMO), and a continued focus on decarbonisation across the sector. The Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII) and Energy Efficiency Existing Ship Index (EEXI) measures, effective from 1 January 2023, require vessels to reduce their Greenhouse Gas emissions.
(hellenicshippingnews) ECB president Christine Lagarde’s de facto pre-announcement at the February meeting, the ECB discussion reflected in the minutes of the meeting and official comments since the February meeting all show that a 50bp rate hike next week is a done deal.
(gCaptain) After experiencing one of the lowest levels of import cargo volume since the pandemic began, major container ports in the United States are expected to see a slow climb in import cargo volume.
The world again needs the shipping industry to brave the rough seas of crises, UNCTAD Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan said on 22 September as she addressed the Global Maritime Forum’s annual summit.
(splash247) The amount of money spent on ships – both newbuilds and secondhand – could be the largest recorded since the global financial crisis of 2008.
(splash247) The First Movers Coalition, a partnership between the World Economic Forum and the US Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry will be officially launched today at COP26, ...
(gcaptain) French shipping giant CMA CGM says it will suspend calls at the Port of Savannah on the U.S. East Coast due to severe congestion and long wait times.
(splash247) Three reasons underpin why freight rates will not fall below pre-pandemic levels but three more that suggest they will not be substantially higher after 2023, writes Daniel Richards from MSI.
(splash247) On Wednesday, President Biden met with the heads of the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach – Gene Seroka and Mario Cordero, respectively – and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) to discuss actions they are each taking to address delays and congestion across the transportation supply chain in Southern California.
(hellenicshippingnews) Demand for dry bulk tonnage has remained high in the S&P market. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Allied Shipbroking said that “on the dry bulk side, interest for SnP transactions remained vivid for yet another week, with several units of different size classes changing hands.
(hellenicshippingnews) China’s request to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership is no surprise. In November last year, during an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, President Xi Jinping said that China would actively consider the possibility of joining the regional trade group.
(hellenicshippingnews) Global merchandise trade is continuing its robust recovery from the shock of the COVID-19 pandemic according to the WTO’s Goods Trade Barometer, which hit a record high in its latest reading issued on 18 August
(splash247) Shanghai, the world’s largest boxport, has launched a new empty container transportation centre in a bid to help solve the industry’s extreme container shortage.
(gcaptain) Imports at the United States’ largest retail container ports should hit yet another record in August as consumer demand continues to stretch supply chains and retailers shift from the back-to-school season to the peak holiday shipping season, according to the National Retail Federation.
(marinelink) U.S. manufacturing of durable goods, which has been lagging the wider recovery of the U.S. economy, hit an all-time high in June when $270.5B worth of goods was produced. This brings total manufacturing of durable goods so far this year to $1,482 billion, a 15.5% increase compared with the first half of 2020.
(hellenicshippingnews) Chinese steel-related companies are adjusting their businesses as prices return to normal, after a government crackdown on speculation in the market for much-needed materials for factories.
(gCaptain) U.S. commercial fishing practices must change to prevent the extinction of North Atlantic right whales, the administration of President Joe Biden said on Thursday, as it prepares a list of new regulations to prevent whale entanglements in lobster and crab gear.
(hellenicshippingnews) The Baltic exchange’s main sea freight index rose on Wednesday, snapping a five-session losing streak, as an uptick in the smaller panamax and supramax vessel segments more than offset a dip in capesize rates.
(Wall Street Journal) The cost of moving goods like iron, coal and corn jumped to a 10-year high this week in a sharp rebound from last year’s industrial downturn.
(splash247) Further evidence of the boom times shipping has entered – not seen since the bull-run of 2003 to 2008 – comes from the extraordinary volume of ships being bought and sold so far this year, which if it continues could see more than 7% of the deadweight fleet change hands in 2021, the highest level seen since 2007, new research from Clarkson Research Services suggests.
Work to free the giant container vessel blocking the Suez Canal is proving successful and will continue within the next few hours, a key step toward getting one of the world’s most important trade arteries moving again.
(gCaptain) The International Maritime Organization is expected to codify a transitional (i.e. 2030) energy efficiency pathway for commercial ships in an upcoming meeting in June of its Maritime Environmental Protection Committee (MEPC 76).
(gcaptain) A surge of imports into the U.S. economy shows little sign of slowing down, clogging American ports and highlighting ways the pandemic is still causing imbalances in the global recovery.
(porttechnology) US ports are set to break their annual import record after November traffic increased by 24.5% year-on-year (YoY), according to National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates.
(hellenicshippingnews) Dry bulk carriers have been in high demand recently, as ship owners looked to capitalize on second hand investment opportunities.
(hellenicshippingnews) China built more than half of the world’s new coal-fired power plants this year and accounted for 90% of new planned capacity, a study showed on Monday, with Beijing still commissioning new projects even as capacity worldwide declines.
(hellenicshippingnews) With August just around the corner, container shipping demolition has already hit a 41-month high in July, reaching 52.8 thousand TEU and thereby surpassing the 50.6 thousand TEU demolished in June.
(hellenicshippingnews) Chinese President Xi Jinping has outlined a clear course for China’s economic recovery in the wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic, a Cuban expert on China said Tuesday.
(splash247) Chinese port congestion is approaching record levels thanks to rampant demand, dire weather and slower operations because of Covid-19 protocols.
(hellenicshippingnews) Iron-ore prices have surged to around $110 per ton — levels last seen August 2019. The steel making commodity has gained 17% year to date, stoked by apprehensions of a supply crunch owing to the worsening coronavirus situation in Brazil while demand in China continues to pick up.
(gcaptain) Asian waters accounted for a third of the shipping industry’s total losses at sea globally last year, even as shipping losses continued their declining trend, says marine specialty insurer Allianz Global.
(hellenicshippingnew) After “blanking” (canceling) around 20% of Asia-to-U.S. capacity this month and next, it now appears almost certain that carriers will cut fewer sailings in July.
(maritime-executive) We can’t celebrate a pandemic. People are dying. Economies are crashing. Unemployment rates are rocketing. We are distanced – from those we love, but also from our immediate past. Life as we know it has been turned upside down. So, we can’t celebrate. But nature can.
(destatis) As reported by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), the index of import prices decreased by 5.5% in March 2020 compared with the corresponding month of the preceding year. This has been the highest price decrease compared to the previous year since May 2016 (-5.7%). In February 2020 and in January 2020 the annual rates of change were -2.0% and -0.9%, respectively. From February 2020 to March 2020 the index fell by 3.5%.
The South Korean government plans to increase its support for national champions in shipbuilding and shipping with billions of dollars in new financial assistance, President Moon Jae-in told media on Wednesday.
(gcaptain) Oil surged in London as China planned to start buying up cheap crude for its strategic reserves, while the U.S. president said he thought Saudi Arabia and Russia would resolve their differences to ease the price war.
(gcaptain) Ships and their crews must be able to trade freely with minimal port restrictions to ensure supply lines don’t freeze up while the coronavirus shuts down much of the globe, shipping and port officials said on Tuesday.
(gcaptain) By Muyu Xu and Dominique Patton BEIJING, March 13 (Reuters) – Severe congestion at Chinese ports is easing, say officials and industry participants, although a logjam of refrigerated containers has disrupted supplies of fresh and frozen food and pushed up freight rates outside China.
(hellenicshippingnews) There’s no way to sugar-coat the worst-ever reading of China’s manufacturing indexes, which were pummelled as the economy was largely shut down in February as Beijing battled to contain the coronavirus epidemic.
(maritime-executive) America's seaports are now beginning to feel the effects of the sailing cancellations that ocean carriers implemented at Chinese ports over the span of the past month.
(allaboutshipping) A series of major ocean events and developments will take place this year, with important implications and opportunities for ocean industries.
(gcaptain) A new “freshwater” charge that came in this month to help the Panama Canal cope with climate change will cost the shipping industry up to $370 million a year, marking another blow for maritime companies already hit by fallout from the coronavirus.
(Port of Hamburg) In 2019 seaborne cargo throughput rose to 136.6 million tons, or by 1.1 percent. Container handling at 9.3 million TEU advanced substantially, by 6.1 percent.
(gcaptain) Imports at the United States’ major retail container ports are expected to see a sharper-than-usual decline this month as the coronavirus causes factory shutdowns in China, according to a new report by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.
(destatis) In 2019, German exports and imports exceeded the former record highs of 2018. However, foreign trade growth slowed in comparison with previous years: in 2019, Germany exported goods to the value of 1,327.6 billion euros and imported goods to the value of 1,104.1 billion euros. The Federal Statistical Office reports that exports were up 0.8% from 2018. Imports rose by 1.4%. In 2018, exports increased by 3.0% and imports by 5.6% compared with the previous year. In 2017, exports were 6.2% and imports 8.0% higher than a year earlier.
(shipandbunker) Demand for Finnish engineering company Wärtsilä's scrubbers predictably declined in the fourth quarter of last year from "exceptionally high" levels a year earlier, according to its CEO.
(gCaptain) One of the shipping industry’s great hopes for improving its environmental performance — engines powered by liquefied natural gas — won’t offer the benefits that many vessel owners are hoping for.
(gcaptain) Chinese oil refiners are unlikely to boost their output of cleaner marine fuels until at least the second quarter of 2020 because they will need to upgrade their facilities, even after the government granted tax waivers to boost output.
(maritime-executive) The IMO says information from various sources has indicated a relatively smooth transition to the 0.5 percent sulfur cap for bunker fuel.
(porttechnology) Despite the boost of the Phase One trade agreement between the US and China, the outlook for the container shipping market remains soft, this according to Drewry’s Container Forecast report.
(maritime-executive) Shanghai International Port (Group) has announced that it posted record high container traffic in 2019 with 42 million TEU in throughput. This amount is about four percent higher than last year, and it is enough to maintain Shanghai's status as the world's busiest container port for the ninth year in a row.
(porttechnology) The US Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) has will invest $7.5 million in nine Marine Highway projects as it looks to make the movement of cargo and people at sea and on land more efficient.
(hellenicshippingnews) One of the major coal exporters, South Africa is now having to rely more on markets like the ones in the Indian Subcontinent, especially India, in a bid to find buyers for its product. South Africa hasn’t managed to penetrate Far East Asian markets, but it’s faring better in the Subcontinent, where demand is booming.
(maritime-executive) Shippers are signaling that there will be tough negotiations ahead over who will pay for new IMO 2020-compliant low sulfur fuel oil (LSFO). At current pricing, compliant fuel costs roughly twice as much as the heavy fuel oil that most ships could legally burn until last week.
(hellenicshippingnews) Capesize: The New Year started with an erosion on pre-Christmas rates as the higher low sulphur fuel costs due to IMO 2020 affected levels.
(hellenicshippingnews) When it comes to assessing 2019 from a shipping market’s point of view, it appears that the year that we just left behind, was “the year that could have been, but never really materialized as such”.
(hellenicshippingnews) China will actively help firms in the traditional manufacturing sector to get out of liquidity trouble next year, the banking and insurance regulator said on Friday, after recent liquidity woes and bond defaults by private firms.
(maritime-executive) Members of the Clean Shipping Alliance (CSA) 2020 are advising those shipowners looking to install marine exhaust gas cleaning systems (EGCS or scrubbers) to ensure that manufacturers, shipyards and installers are using quality, high-end materials.
(maritime-executive) "For the sixth year running I have been asked by The Maritime Executive to provide a review of the year’s notable developments on ship recycling and my expectations for the coming year."
(logisticsmgmt) U.S. reports covered in the report handled 1.95 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEU) in October, the most recent month for which data is available, which is up 0.6% over September’s 1.97 million TEU and down 7.5% annually compared to the 2 million TEU handled in October 2018, which stands as the all-time monthly record.
(destatis) Germany exported goods to the value of 119.5 billion euros and imported goods to the value of 98.0 billion euros in October 2019. Based on provisional data, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that German exports increased by 1.9% and imports decreased by 0.6% in October 2019 year on year.
(hellenicshippingnews) As part of a series of initiatives aimed at bringing greater transparency to fuel costs resulting from the new IMO 2020 low-sulphur regulation, Drewry is pleased to announce the publication of its first low-sulphur reference bunker index tracker.
(gCaptain) China on Tuesday formally established China Shipbuilding Group, which the country’s government-run broadcaster described as the world’s largest shipbuilder.
(gCaptain) The Port of Hamburg saw strong growth in the first nine months of 2019, with seaborne cargo throughput rising by 3.2 percent to 104 million tons. At that rate, Hamburg exceeds the growth rate of competing ports in northern Europe, which on average have reported just one percent growth, according to the Port of Hamburg.
(hellenicshippingnews) RIYADH and Tehran are engaged in an intense ‘crude’ battle, making in the process interesting moves to checkmate the other on the geopolitical chessboard.
(hellenicshippingnews) South Korean shipyards remain the preferred option among Greek ship owners, especially when it comes to ordering their latest high-tech and niche-busting LNG carriers.
(maritime-executive) During a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Brasilia this week, China is expected to announce a $1 billion investment in the port of Sao Luis by state-owned China Communications Construction Company (CCCC). President Xi is in Brazil for the annual BRICS summit, a gathering of the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
(hellenicshippingnews) The second-hand market for ships is quite volatile at the moment, as many owners are actively looking for investment opportunities, in a time when the majority of them refrain from newbuilding orders.
(maritime-executive) Following back-to-back attacks on two vessels in the Gulf of Guinea last week, the International Transport Worker’ Federation has called for urgent global and regional cooperation to fight piracy off West Africa.
(logisticsmgmt) The report’s key metric, the PMI, eked out a 0.5% gain to 48.3 (a reading of 50 or higher indicates growth), following declines of 1.3% and 2.1%, respectively, in October and September. The October PMI marks the third consecutive month the PMI has come in below 50, while the overall economy grew in October for the 126th consecutive month.
(Hellenic Shipping News) Turbulence, volatility and extreme highs and lows are the “name of the game” these days, when it comes to the shipping markets.
(lloydslist) The decision to postpone the October 18 scheduled import duty rise on $250bn worth of goods has failed to lift the uncertainty in a ‘mercurial trade environment’ where importers have to assume the worst to avoid rising Costs.
(maritime-executive) Crude oil production in the U.S Gulf of Mexico hit 1.8 million bpd in 2018, setting a new annual record. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) predicts that the industry will set new production records in 2019, despite the temporary shut-ins related to Hurricane Barry in July.
(logisticsmgmt) September shipments, at 1.199, were up 0.8% compared to August and down 3.4% annually, and expenditures were off 4.5% annually and up 0.5% compared to August.
(maritime-executive) The Ballast Water Management Convention amendments formalizing the implementation schedule for the D-2 standard entered into force on October 13.
(destatis) The downward trend of goods trade with the United Kingdom observed since the Brexit referendum is persisting. As reported by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), the United Kingdom ranked seventh among Germany's most important trading partners in the period from January to July 2019, with a foreign trade turnover (exports and imports) of 68.5 billion euros.
(hellenicshippingnews) The escalating US-China trade war, if not settled in October as per the planned meeting between authorities of the two countries, will impact not only the Transpacific trade route, but also other major trade routes as China is the main demand driver.
(splash247) Despite the global merchant fleet being 60% bigger than in 2008, its carbon footprint has dropped by 18% over the last 11 years, according to data from Clarkson Research Services.
(hellenicshippingnews) European coal prices face further pressure this week amid swelling stock levels, softer gas prices and muted generation demand, participants said.
(hellenicshippingnews) A senior shipping executive said there is still concern in the container shipping industry about whether there will be sufficient low sulfur fuel available for shipping lines to meet the International Maritime Organization requirement.