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The Panama Canal Authority announced a new maximum draft restriction of 43 feet, or 13.11 meters, the sixth since January, in the Gatun Lakes, which will come into effect May 28. The current maximum draft is set at 44 feet, or 13.41 meters, which came into effect April 30 and was announced April 1. The continued tightening of draft restrictions in the Gatun Lakes are based on the projected precipitation and water levels of the lake in the coming weeks. Further draft adjustments would be announced in 12-inch, or 30.5-cm, ...

German container hinterland logistics company Contargo put its first electronic truck (e-truck) into use in Duisburg Intermodal Terminal (DIT), a logistics hub of the world’s largest inland port, namely Duisburg port in West Germany. For the first time, DIT uses an e-truck for delivery and collection of containers at different loading places within a radius of 40 kilometers. Driven by 210 kW electric motor, the truck, with maximum permissible weight of 37 tons, can make around 100 kilometers on a single charge, said the company. Hendrik Wuest, transport minister of ...

Despite a two-year low in quarterly coal shipments, Westshore Terminals reported a 5.9% increase in coal-loading revenue, driven by an increased loading price per metric ton, for the first quarter of the year, the terminal’s earnings report said. Westshore, the largest coal export facility in North America, shipped 6.9 million mt in Q1, down 4.2% from the same point last year. Shipments during the quarter were at their lowest since Q1 2017, when the Vancouver-based terminal exported 5.9 million mt, and dipped below 7 million mt for the first time ...

Russia halted oil flows along the Druzhba pipeline to Eastern Europe and Germany late last month because of contaminated crude, a move that helped lift global oil prices to a six-month high and left refiners in Europe scrambling to find supplies. Below are details of the problem and action being taken. WHAT HAPPENED? At least 5 million tonnes of oil, or about 36.7 million barrels, have been contaminated by organic chloride, the chemical compound used to boost oil extraction by cleaning wells and accelerating the flow of crude. The compound ...

Iron ore prices look increasingly caught between the bullish reality of lower supply from Brazil and the bearish possibility of weaker demand if President Donald Trump carries out his threat to ramp up his tariff war against China. The price action in the wake of Trump’s Twitter threat on Sunday to ramp up tariffs on $200 billion of imports from China to 25 percent was indicative of iron ore’s dilemma. Iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange, the most liquid market for the steel-making ingredient, dropped in early trade ...

With US waivers expired, Iranian crude is likely to quickly fade from the world market and, while replacement barrels are coming, they may not arrive for months, the US Energy Information Administration said Tuesday. In its May Short-Term Energy Outlook, EIA said that Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait and Russia will all boost oil production to compensate for the loss of Iranian crude. In addition, US production will continue to climb, reaching a record 13.38 million b/d in 2020, a 350,000 b/d increase from last month’s forecast. “These crude oil ...

Brent oil held steady near $70 a barrel on Wednesday as record Chinese imports and tighter global supplies eased concerns about a deepening trade spat between the United States and China. U.S. sanctions on crude exporters Iran and Venezuela as well as supply cuts by OPEC and Russia also supported prices. Brent crude futures were at $69.78 per barrel by 0902 GMT, down 10 cents or 0.14 percent. U.S. crude futures were at $61.47 per barrel, up 7 cents or 0.1 percent. “It has been a less than auspicious start ...

Exploration activity bounced back in 2018 but declining performance points to the limitations of the global exploration drilling opportunity set and the urgent need for its renewal in 2019 and beyond. This is the key finding of Westwood’s 10th annual ‘State of Exploration’ report which reviews global conventional exploration over the last five years and looks ahead at the prospects for 2019. Global exploration drilling is on the rise after the cutbacks triggered by the 2014 oil price crash and the lows in activity reached in 2017. In the downturn ...

Russia stands to gain from the US decision to end Iran sanctions waivers, with any upward impact on oil prices set to benefit the country’s budget and oil producers, and international buyers likely to seek more Russian crude as an alternative to Iranian supplies. The decision could also facilitate an agreement among OPEC/non-OPEC producers to amend the current crude production cut deal, allowing Russian producers to ramp up output in the second half of 2019. “The end to Iran sanctions waivers, if fully enforced, would be unambiguously positive for Russia’s ...

Hedge fund managers have started to increase their bearish oil positions for the first time since the start of the year, amid signs the previous bull run had become overextended and prices were ripe for a correction. Hedge funds and other money managers were net sellers of the six major petroleum futures and options contracts in the week to April 30, bringing to an end a record-breaking 15-week run of net purchases. Portfolio managers cut their net long position by 17 million barrels last week, after having raised it by ...

US cracking margins gained last week as strong economic indicators supported rising gasoline demand, aided by healthy export demand for refined products, an analysis by S&P Global Platts showed Monday. This was an about-face from the record-high inventories and low cracks at the beginning of the year. “We’ve got full employment, [gasoline] demand is hanging up at 9.3 million b/d,” said PBF CEO Tom Nimbley on the May 1 first-quarter results call. Nimbley said gasoline demand could prove to “have some legs” which could have PBF shifting to “maybe a ...

World shares held near five-week lows on Wednesday as renewed trade tensions and fears for the global economy drove investors into the safety of bonds and the Japanese yen, with the latter rising to a six-week high against the dollar. European shares inched higher in an effort to shake off the gloom of dismal session in Asia and sharp slides on Wall Street, where the trade-sensitive industrial and technology sectors were hit especially hard by fears that a potential trade deal between the United States and China could unravel. Chinese ...

Most emerging Asian currencies weakened on Wednesday, as fresh doubts about whether the United States and China can end their trade war rekindled worries about global growth. Beijing said on Tuesday that Chinese Vice Premier Liu He will travel to Washington for two days of talks starting on Thursday, setting up a last-ditch bid for a deal that would avoid a sharp increase in tariffs on Chinese goods ordered by U.S. President Donald Trump. The higher tariffs are scheduled to take effect on Friday, when Liu would be in Washington. ...

The proposed reduction of resolution planning or ‘living will’ requirements by the Federal Reserve and FDIC for U.S. banks and the U.S. operations of large foreign bank organizations (FBOs) is viewed negatively from a credit perspective, Fitch Ratings says. As regulatory requirements continue to ease on the margin for the largest banks, risks inherent to their complexity can be further exacerbated by the loss of comparative data from annual resolution planning and stress testing data. Under the joint regulatory proposal, U.S. GSIBs would only file resolution plans every other year, ...

The Chinese service sector remained resilient in April, according to the monthly Caixin/Markit survey released on Monday, a further sign that the Chinese economy was stabilising before Donald Trump’s most recent tariff threat. On Sunday, the US President tweeted that he would raise tariffs on US$200 billion of Chinese imports on Friday because he was disappointed by the lack of progress in talks to end the trade war. If implemented, the tariffs are likely to put further downward pressure on the Chinese economy and the threat had an immediate impact ...