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Three Konecranes Gottwald Mobile Harbour Cranes, with versatile operation modes, outstanding mobility and high spare parts availability, are boosting container handling performance for Fiji Port Terminal Limited. Since 2006, Fiji Port Terminal has been operating three HMK 300 E Mobile Harbor Cranes, two at Suva and one at Lautoka, where they provide flexible and reliable handling of containers and general cargo. Konecranes Gottwald Mobile Harbor Cranes are a cost-effective solution for remote locations because they do not need the investment in infrastructure such as rails that a ship-to-shore gantry crane ...

The drive for global standards in electronic messaging at ports has been given a major boost with news from the International Port Community Systems Association (IPCSA) that the standards specialist group PROTECT has now been fully integrated into the association, a year earlier than expected. The move has consolidated, within one organisation, an unrivalled level of knowledge and experience in standardised and harmonised electronic information exchange; this renewed strength and focus will help to accelerate innovations and advances in the sector. PROTECT was established in 1992 by six major ports ...

Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture bought 72,653 tonnes of food-quality wheat from the United States and Canada in a regular tender. Japan, the world’s sixth-biggest wheat importer, keeps a tight grip on imports of the country’s second most important staple after rice and buys the majority of the grain for milling via tenders typically issued three times a month. Details are as follows (in tonnes): COUNTRY TYPE QUANTITY U.S. Western White 14,885 U.S. Hard Red Winter(Semi Hard) 11,970 U.S. Dark Northern Spring(14.0%) 24,698 Canada Western Red Spring (protein minimum 13.5%) 21,100 ...

Agro-export companies in Argentina are concerned about independent truck owners who are blocking roads as part of a protest over what drivers say are exorbitant taxes and highway tolls, the CIARA-CEC export industry chamber said. Owners and drivers, grouped in the informal TUDA association (Transportistas Unidos de Argentina), began blocking highways over the weekend, making it hard for grains to reach port terminals. The protest adds uncertainty to a sector that was racked by several Argentine port workers’ strikes last month. “Currently everything is operating, but the terminals only have ...

A projected 2.98 million mt/year of new primary aluminum capacity will come online in 2021, according to S&P Global Platts calculations based on company and state media announcements. About 70% of the new capacity is located in southern China’s Yunnan province. China’s primary aluminum output totaled 37.08 million mt in 2020, up 4.9% compared with a year ago. All market participants expect China’s primary aluminum output to increase in 2021, driven by high profit margins, according to the Platts China Alumina and Aluminum Outlook published in January. Actual production from ...

A new wave of Covid-19 cases in China’s Hebei province triggered transport restrictions in the major steel-producing region. The lockdowns in Hebei include areas surrounding steel mills, limiting the ability to transport the metal to customers. China is the world’s top steel producer and analysts say Hebei contributes over 20% of the country’s total output. Coronavirus cases in Hebei have been rising since the start of the year, prompting the province to lock down its capital, Shijiazhuang, and at least two other areas in an effort to contain the spread ...

Fourth-quarter 2020 earnings calls for US oil upstream, midstream and downstream operators will likely reflect two unique broad themes besides the usual full-year capital spending and business outlooks: plans around policy changes expected from a new US presidential administration, and the pace and extent of recovery from the pandemic. With oil prices holding above $50/b, thanks in part to an unexpected 1 million b/d production cut set for February and March by Saudi Arabia, 2021 could be a transition year for the industry. 2020 was dominated by the pandemic, with ...

It’s been an extraordinary year for oil and gas companies. 2020 always had the potential to be transformational as the energy transition gathered pace – and then the global pandemic threw the industry into a tailspin. Financial resilience and sustainability will be the corporate strategy watchwords in 2021. Our corporate analysts picked their top five themes to watch in the corporate oil and gas sector in 2021. Fill in the form for a complimentary copy of the full report, or read on for an introduction. 1. Forging the companies of ...

Saudi Aramco may be forced to play catch-up in 2021 as rival state-controlled oil companies closely aligned to OPEC policy in the Middle East race to add new production capacity and win back market share despite deep pandemic-induced output cuts. Aramco began 2020 with a chunky capital expenditure budget of between $35 billion and $40 billion, but this figure was progressively lowered throughout the year as the demand shock caused by the global pandemic forced the kingdom into severe production cuts along with OPEC, Russia and other allies. By the ...

The developer of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany has said it remained committed to completing the controversial link, despite growing reports of auxiliary service companies suspending participation in the project due to the threat of US sanctions. In one of his last actions before the Biden administration takes office, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Jan. 19 that sanctions had been imposed on Russia-based KVT-RUS, owner of the pipe-laying vessel Fortuna, because of its role in the project. And expanded sanctions that were ...

President-elect Joe Biden enters the White House this week with ambitious plans to tackle climate change and hasten the transition to a low-carbon economy. The economic and political realities of the moment, though, will make it difficult to move too aggressively against an oil and gas industry that continues to supply a majority of the country’s energy. Biden, a centrist Democrat, has been here before. In 2009, he became Vice President to President Barack Obama, an administration that also prioritized sweeping climate legislation, including a cap-and-trade carbon emissions program. Those ...

What’s ahead for oil and gas fiscal systems in 2021? Governments have a lot to think about in 2021. Tougher fiscal terms could put countries at the sharp end of the energy transition – but support for upstream sectors could also remain a priority, particularly after a year of economic disruption. The key to tackling competing and even contradictory pressures may lie in bolder, more radical policies. Will fiscal policymakers implement radical change in 2021? Fill in the form to read Global upstream fiscal systems: 4 things to look for ...

The Appalachia Basin, made up of the Marcellus formations and the Utica Shale, accounted for more than 40% of the natural gas produced in the US in 2020. Unlike many of the oil plays in the US Lower 48, natural gas plays, including the Appalachia Basin, saw a less drastic change in production and drilling activity during the economic contraction caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company. GlobalData’s latest market analysis report, Marcellus and Utica Shales in the US, 2020, reveals that the Appalachia ...

U.S. corporate results and profit outlooks are becoming increasingly important in sustaining investor optimism in a stock market rally that has driven valuations close to a 20-year high. With fourth-quarter reports starting to pour in, the benchmark S&P 500 is trading at 22.6 times earnings estimates for the next 12 months, according to Refinitiv Datastream. That price-to-earnings multiple (P/E) — a common benchmark for valuing stocks — is well above the 15.3 long-term average and has been climbing since the market bottomed in March. Investors’ rationale for the historically high ...

As was the case 12 years ago, Joe Biden enters the White House on an economic rescue mission after an historic US and global recession. Then he was vice president and the world was reeling from the shock of the financial crisis. And while Mr Biden has defended the economic record of his then-boss President Barack Obama, there are plenty on his team who wish the US had done more. This time, Mr Biden’s initial economic agenda is Covid. As he enters office, the pandemic is still raging, thousands are ...