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Ukraine grain exports might total 6-7 mln metric tons in April despite Russian attacks on Ukrainian port infrastructure on the Black Sea, industry source told Reuters. Russia has recently stepped up attacks on Ukrainian seaports, damaging grain storage facilities in the Port Pivdennyi in Odesa region last week. Local media reported one of the strikes may have damaged railway tracks to the port of Chornomorsk cargo terminals in the region. Source: Reuters (Reporting by Pavel Polityuk, Editing by Louise Heavens)

Copper prices retreated on Tuesday on profit-taking by funds and hedging by producers after a speculation-led rally sent the market to a two-year high. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange CMCU3 was down 1.3% at $9,709 per metric ton by 1054 GMT. It touched $9,988 a ton on Monday, testing the key $10,000 mark. LME copper is still up 9% so far this month. “Metals prices were rising far too quickly. The funds are taking profit, and people are trying to hedge,” Dan Smith, head of research at Amalgamated ...

Middle East crude benchmark Dubai rose for a third straight session on Tuesday, buoyed by tight supply of heavier oil. Spot premiums for Upper Zakum crude continued to climb amid tight supply of the Abu Dhabi grade. Trafigura bought a June-loading Upper Zakum crude cargo from Unipec at $2.65 a barrel above Dubai quotes, traders said, up from earlier deals of premiums between $2.30 and $2.50 a barrel. Murban’s spot premium also jumped to $2.45 a barrel, the highest level this month. A total of 15 Murban cargoes have been ...

Asia’s naphtha refining profit margin rose on Tuesday on the back of healthy activity in spot markets, but the gains were limited by volatility in crude oil benchmarks due to persisting tensions in the Middle East. The crack rose by about $2 to $48.40 per metric ton over Brent crude. The backwardation between first-half June and first-half July naphtha prices widened to $6 a ton, compared with $3.25 a day earlier. In physical markets, traders SK Energy and Vitol bought 25,000 tons of naphtha each for second-half June and first-half ...

U.S. natural gas futures fell on Tuesday, pressured by forecasts for mild weather leading to lower gas demand for heating. Front-month gas futures NGc1 for May delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange were down 1.6 cents or 0.9% to $1.78 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) at 09:39 a.m. EDT. “The weather forecast overnight continued to show a mild weather pattern, which is not favorable for any type of a rally in the natgas market,” said Gary Cunningham, director of market research at Tradition Energy. Financial firm LSEG forecasts ...

Banks have mostly given up hope this year will bring a long-awaited recovery in UK IPOs, as stock exchanges within the European Union and Switzerland have so far proved more tempting, senior bankers told Reuters. London, which was Europe’s most popular listing venue in the boom of 2021, has attracted only 2% of all European IPO volumes since January, with Zurich and Frankfurt the busiest venues, Dealogic data showed. Part of the reason is the sluggishness of Britain’s economic recovery and a perception its stock market is undervalued. Bankers anticipate ...

The European Central Bank must be convinced that inflation is heading back to its 2% target before cutting interest rates, Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel said on Tuesday. The bank has essentially pre-announced a rate cut for June but policymakers are expressing a wide range of views on where policy should go thereafter. “Before cutting interest rates, we must be convinced based on data that inflation will actually reach our target in a timely and sustained manner,” Nagel, an influential conservative on the rate-setting Governing Council, said in a speech. “If ...

VLCC Rates Continue to Soften Amid Subdued Activity and a Cautious Charterer Stance – With May fixing activity in full force, the VLCC freight market continued its descent

U.S. business activity cooled in April to a four-month low due to weaker demand, while rates of inflation eased slightly even as input prices rose sharply, suggesting some possible relief ahead as the Federal Reserve looks for signs that the economy is ebbing enough to bring inflation down further. S&P Global said on Tuesday that its flash U.S. Composite PMI Output Index, which tracks the manufacturing and services sectors, fell to 50.9 this month from 52.1 in March. A reading above 50 indicates expansion in the private sector. The slowdown ...

The European Central Bank will cut interest rates in June but needs to be very cautious about subsequent moves and take into account signals from the U.S. Federal Reserves, ECB Vice President Luis de Guindos said in a newspaper interview. “Assuming there are no surprises between now and then, as you say in French, it’s a ‘fait accompli’,” French newspaper Le Monde quoted de Guindos as saying in Tuesday. “As for what happens afterwards, I’m inclined to be very cautious.” Markets see two more rate cuts after June, most likely ...

Bulkers: S&P Values remain stable this week with no notable movements

New online visa procedure 23 Apr 2024, Sri Lanka The Immigration and Emigration Department of Sri Lanka has launched a new online visa issuing system. READ MORE Stoppage for tribute 23 Apr 2024, France A one-hour stoppage will be observed at all French ports between 1400 and 1500 hours local time tomorrow (24 April) to pay tribute to union leader Pascal PONTAC, who has died. READ MORE Marine site investigation south of Kau Yi Chau 23 Apr 2024, Hong Kong For approximately 12 months, marine site investigation works involving drilling ...

A groundbreaking agreement between MSC Group, MSC Foundation and the charity Mercy Ships International prepares for the construction of a brand-new hospital ship that will deliver free surgery and training annually to thousands of people in Africa. On 8 April, the chairman of MSC Group and MSC Foundation, Capt. Gianluigi Aponte, Diego Aponte, MSC Group President and Member of the MSC Foundation Board, and Mercy Ships Founder Don Stephens finalised an agreement to kickstart this new project with a generous anchor donation from MSC Foundation, reflecting the visionary leaders’ commitment ...

South Korea’s Hyundai Glovis Co. is diversifying its shipping portfolio beyond the transportation of vehicles from Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Corp. According to data on Sunday regarding its privately owned vessels acquired over the past five years, the company purchased one tanker ship in 2021, two in 2022, and two liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carriers this year. Traditionally, Hyundai Glovis had been heavily reliant on the transportation of completed vehicles for affiliated Hyundai Motor and Kia have been assessed by the industry as lacking competitiveness in pursuing shipping operations ...

Coach Solutions, a leading SaaS provider to the shipping industry, adds a new product offering, high-frequency Speed Percentage Analysis to its suite of vessel performance solutions, as one of the first initiatives due to the strategic investment from Kongsberg Digital. By leveraging Coach owner Kongsberg Digital’s Vessel Insight infrastructure, Coach can easily ingest high-frequency sensor data from clients’ vessels that can be used to understand when hull and propeller fouling is impacting performance. The high-frequency data, combined with Coach Solutions’ Valid Data vessel reporting functionality, will result in higher levels ...