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The World Bank is looking to issue its first drought bond in the next 12-18-months and broaden its offering of catastrophe bonds supporting countries suffering devastation from storms and earthquakes, a senior executive at the lender said. The drought bond would be a new instrument in the multilateral lender’s suite of so-called cat bonds – fixed income instruments that pay out to countries in the event of a natural disaster. “We would love to do something in the drought space, that is something we are working on,” said George Richardson, ...

Japanese manufacturers became more confident about business conditions in July whereas those in the service sector cooled, the monthly Reuters Tankan survey showed on Wednesday, reflecting a patchy economic outlook. The poll of 506 large non-financial firms comes two weeks before the Bank of Japan (BOJ) holds its July 30-31 policy review. Investors are seeking clues on when the BOJ may raise interest rates, after doing so in March for the first time since 2007 and then deciding last month to reduce its bond-buying. The central bank will scrutinise its ...

Dutch and British gas prices were mixed on Wednesday morning amid an expected drop in wind speed across continental Europe, while storage build remains strong. The benchmark front-month contract at the Dutch TTF hub was 0.23 euros lower at 32.78 euros per megawatt hour (MWh), or $10.45/mmbtu by 0859 GMT, LSEG data showed. The European gas market appears overall bearish, with a strong supply picture throughout the region and high storage levels across the continent, with limited upside, analysts at Energi Danmark said. The Dutch day-ahead contract was up 0.14 ...

Asia’s naphtha markets inched higher on Wednesday, due to weakness in crude prices, but the upside remained capped as Middle East inventories rose and lacklustre polymer demand weighed. The crack rose to $69.18 per metric ton over Brent crude, compared with $68.10 a day earlier, and the backwardation widened to $5.75 a ton. At the deals window, energy trader Trafigura bought 25,000 tons of second-half September naphtha cargo. O/AS A Japanese producer was heard seeking naphtha for September delivery, market participants said. In gasoline markets, sentiment remained positive amid tight ...

The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday lifted its 2024 growth outlook for the U.K. to 0.7% from 0.5%, providing a further boost to the country’s new government. Looking ahead, the Washington, D.C.-based IMF reiterated its forecast for 1.5% U.K. growth in 2025 in the July update of its World Economic Outlook. The upgrades come after two years of stagnation, with the U.K. falling into a shallow recession in the second half of 2023. However, GDP growth in May came in above analyst expectations at 0.4%, while summer events including the ...

PCT (Piraeus Container Terminal S.A.) was distinguished as a Greek Business Champion during the “Protagonists of the Greek Economy 2024” awards. The subsidiary company of COSCO SHIPPING Ports Limited was included among the “champions” in Greek business according to the evaluation criteria of the specific category, where in 2022 it recorded an increase in both turnover, by 23.19%, and profitability (EBITDA), by 43.18%, compared to the previous year. The award also comes in recognition of PCT’s contribution to the Greek economy (contribution to public revenue, support of domestic businesses and ...

Descartes Systems Group, the global leader in uniting logistics-intensive businesses in commerce, announced the top carriers worldwide using its Descartes MacroPoint™ real-time freight visibility solution to deliver exceptional tracking compliance and on-time performance across a substantial volume of freight. Carriers were selected based on the successful integration of Descartes MacroPoint with their transportation management or telematics systems and achieving a level of tracking compliance and volume among the top 1% of Descartes’ carrier network during the second half of 2024. “We recognize that our customers’ success hinges on continuous visibility ...

Recent research into the impact of an ECA in the North Atlantic Ocean confirms that there would be significant emissions reductions benefits if such an area were to be established. The North Atlantic Emissions Control Area would mean stricter regulations on ships in designated areas, aimed at reducing and controlling their harmful emissions of sulphur oxides (SOx), fine particulate matter (PM2.5), and nitrogen oxides (NOx). The International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) study compared the proposed ECA to a scenario without ECA regulations and found that, dependent on the dominant ...

Amid a general rise in average shipping costs for maritime containers heading to the western and eastern United States and the European Union (EU) in June, the costs for maritime export containers bound for Europe notably increased by 44.6 percent compared to the previous month. This represents a 121.6 percent increase compared to the same month last year. According to the “transportation cost status of exports and imports in June 2024” released by the Korea Customs Service on July 15, the shipping cost for containers bound for the EU last ...

The Korea Fair Trade Commission has approved HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering’s acquisition of STX Heavy Industries, subject to conditions that prevent supply refusal and price increases for marine engine parts for three years to ensure fair competition. The merger of HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, the leader in the marine engine and components market, with STX Heavy Industries, the third-largest player in the same sector, is set to significantly enhance HD Korea Shipbuilding’s competitive edge against its primary rivals, Hanwha Ocean and Hanwha Engine. The commission’s decision, ...

Ports serve as the gateways through which China opens up to the outside world. As China continues to deepen reform across the board, a vast majority of ports in the country have flourished, from the north to the south, from the east to the west, and from border regions to inland areas. For instance, Alashankou Port in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region sees around 60 trains and 350 vehicles passing through on a daily basis. Thanks to the development of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor (ILSTC), a trade ...

The African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org) has successfully concluded a two-day preparatory workshop on implementing the African Ports Connectivity Portal Project (APC-PP) to improve data collection and connectivity among the continent’s ports. Held in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, from 8-9 July 2024, the workshop rallied together key stakeholders and experts from various organizations, including port management and maritime associations, the African Union Commission, regional economic communities, and port authorities from ten African countries. The African Ports Connectivity Portal Project is supported by a $2 million grant from the Beijing-based Multilateral Co-operation Center ...

5G connectivity, speed, efficiency, optimization and real-time coordination are the keys to the success of the IMAGINE-B5G project. This initiative – which is part of the innovation strategy of the Port Authority of València (PAV) – has been developed by Telefónica, the company XRF, ETRAIR and coordinated by the PAV, the Valenciaport Foundation and the iTeam institute of the Polytechnic University of València. The project aims to develop a pilot using advanced 5G communications, such as network slicing and network apification that serves as an enabler of other technologies that ...

The amount of coal transported in the United States decreased 8% in 2023, continuing a trend in which coal shipments have generally decreased over the past two decades as coal’s share of power generation has declined in the United States. The amount of coal transported to power plants, which are often located far from mines, decreased by more than half, falling from 957 million tons in 2010 to 422 million tons in 2023. We expect the decline in coal consumption to reverse this year. In our recently published July update ...

Russian natural gas exports via pipelines to the European Union countries have jumped by 24% in the first half of the year from the same period in 2023, according to a July report published by the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF). It did not provide the volumes. Russia is a part of the GECF, sometimes dubbed the “gas OPEC”, which accounts for more than two thirds of global natural gas reserves. GECF said pipeline gas imports by the EU from Russia and Azerbaijan have been higher in each month of ...