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“In the future, machines will do the perfunctory jobs that humans do right now. Employees need to be increasingly creative: they need to use their brains and question things. And the management needs to let them try and fail, because that is the only way to learn and create something new.” This is how the renowned futurist Alvin Toffler predicted the future when he visited Wärtsilä’s shipyards in 1983. Did Toffler’s predictions come true? What has happened at Wärtsilä after Wilhelm ‘Vikkelä-Ville (Quick Willy)’ Wahlforss, a true captain of industry ...

The whereabouts of six Russian sailors abducted by pirates in the dangerous waters off the West African coast are still unknown, Russian officials say. “The kidnappers have not established contact yet, and the location of the captured Russian sailors remains unknown,” the Russian Embassy in Benin said in a statement on January 6. Pirates seized the Panamanian-flagged MSC Mandy container ship in Benin’s territorial waters early on January 2, robbing crew members and sailors and abducting six hostages before fleeing. Officials have said 24 to 26 people were aboard the ...

A high level Saudi business delegation paid a visit to the Pakistani Port of Gwadar. The delegation, led by Ahmad Al-Gamdi, adviser of minister of energy, investment and mineral resources, included several businessmen and members of the Saudi Council of Chambers. This was the first high profile visit of a Saudi business delegation to the Port of Gwadar, which is a major hub of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Project. During the visit, the delegation saw all potential investment opportunities available in the Gwadar Port, where the Pakistani officials, ...

Leading container port Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) on Friday said it handled over five million TEU of container traffic in 2018. The state-run company recorded a 7.24 per cent growth in both container and bulk cargo volumes during 2018 to 5.05 million TEU, it said in a statement issued here. In December 2018, JNPT handled 4.45 lakh TEUs, which is the highest container volume handled in a month, ever recorded, it said. During April-December 2018, the traffic handled so far is 3.81 million TEUs and with the last quarter ...

Turkey’s crude oil import profile is set for major changes this year following the re-imposition of US sanctions against its main crude supplier, Iran, coupled with the commissioning of Socar’s new 214,000 b/d STAR refinery. Expected to reach nameplate capacity this year, STAR will boost Turkey’s crude imports by 40% and, with Iranian oil exports sidelined, the country will need more crude from alternative producers. Where this crude will come from is far from clear. For the past decade, Turkey’s sole existing refiner, Tupras, whose three refineries process 540,000 b/d ...

2018/19 wheat exports from Ukraine are at a three-year low. The country exported 9.4 MMT of wheat during the first five months of the current season (July-November), or 6.4% less than in the same period last marketing year (10 MMT), reports UkrAgroConsult. Similar to last season, the main destination for Ukrainian wheat is still Indonesia. Exports to this country in the period under review gained 14% against a year earlier. The Philippines also continues to step up purchases of Ukrainian wheat. In the period under review, the country imported 1.3 ...

Commodities took a kicking in 2018 — with deep losses in everything from oil and copper to coffee and sugar — so what’s in store for the 12 months to come? The inaugural What to Watch of the year offers a selective run through of prospects and pitfalls for some of the top raw materials, and it’s a reasonably positive picture that emerges. That road map comes ahead of a busy period. The U.S.-China trade fight will be in the news next week, with a U.S. delegation in Beijing for ...

Chicago soybean futures rose for a fourth consecutive session on Monday to their highest in nearly three weeks as trade talks between Washington and Beijing boosted expectations of U.S. soybean exports to China. Corn ticked lower while wheat prices were largely unchanged. The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board Of Trade was up 0.3 percent at $9.24-1/4 a bushel by 0353 GMT, after climbing to the highest since Dec. 12 at $9.26 a bushel. Corn was down 0.1 percent at $3.82-3/4 a bushel, having gained 0.9 percent in the ...

The volume of thermal coal derivatives traded and cleared on the ICE platform fell 9% to 1.55 billion mt in 2018, the lowest full-year total since 2014, according to data from ICE Futures Europe and electronic trading platform globalCOAL. Total options traded in 2018 came to 304.37 million mt, down 24% to the lowest volume since 2013. In 2018, the total volume of ICE Rotterdam derivatives fell 2% to 1.3 billion mt, with options traded for the contract totaling 286.88 million mt, a drop of 14%. ICE Richards Bay derivatives ...

Oil prices rose by 2 percent on Monday, extending a rally from 18-month lows hit in December with support from OPEC production cuts and steadying equity markets. Oil has gained nearly 12 percent since last Monday in its biggest week-on-week rally in two years. Brent crude futures rose $1.39 on the day to $58.45 a barrel by 1224 GMT, up from December’s slide below $50, which was its lowest level since July 2017. U.S. crude rose $1.26 to $49.22 a barrel. “Momentum is coming back into the market from very ...

This winter, the liquefied natural gas (LNG) market experienced a different focus as US gas exports were challenged by weaker Asia demand. That kept the global LNG market under pressure and led to weaker prices than previous winters. At the same time, LNG shipping data shows that lately Australia has beaten Qatar as the world largest LNG supplier. Australia now produces 83 million tons per year of nameplate liquefaction capacity, versus Qatar’s 77 million tons per year. Moreover, Australia still has more room for near-term production upside. Ship-tracking data from ...

Given oil’s plummet at the end of last year, OPEC’s strategy to stabilize the market might look a bust. But where it matters most for the cartel’s members — petroleum revenues — it’s still a winner. Crude prices in London have sunk back to the same range when the group began production cuts in early 2017, of between $50 and $60 a barrel, as record U.S. oil output and shaky fuel demand counteract the group’s efforts. That’s below the levels most of its members need to balance government budgets. But ...

If recent market evidence is anything to go by, oil and natural gas prices will remain volatile in 2019. However, there is much to suggest that the industry has the potential to overcome short-term challenges despite oversupply risks. For instance, according to Moody’s, both U.S. oil and natural gas benchmarks will see range-bound volatility but the rating agency expects the medium-term price band for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude, the main North American benchmark, to be $50-$70 per barrel, and North American natural gas at Henry Hub to average $2.50-$3.50/MMBtu. ...

With the start of the new year, bullish sentiments have returned to oil markets as Opec and its allies implemented 1.2 million bpd production cuts and expected US-China trade talks tomorrow eased global economic slowdown fears. The price of oil, which collapsed more than 40 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2018, surged to its best weekly gain in more than two years. Brent rallied about 2 per cent and closed at $57.06 on Friday, ending the week up 9.3 per cent for its best showing since December 2016. ...

America is now the largest producer of oil in the world. For the U.S., this is great news as the dream of energy independence grows and maybe one day we can tell OPEC to go take a hike. However, while the shale oil revolution has helped change the energy landscape forever, we cannot take shale for granted. We can’t just assume that the industry can withstand any price and that production can keep rising despite the market conditions. We can’t assume that shale oil producers can match OPEC production cuts ...