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The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index inched up on Friday helped by an uptick in panamax and supramax rates, and posted its first weekly gain in three due to robust capesize rates. The Baltic dry index, which tracks rates for ships ferrying dry bulk commodities and reflects rates for capesize, panamax and supramax vessels, was up by 2 points at 1,296 points. The index rose 2.3% this week. The capesize index fell 14 points, or 0.7%, to 1,900 points, even as it gained 3.3% for the week. Average daily ...

The tanker market faced downward pressure during the month of August. According to the latest monthly report from OPEC, “dirty tanker rates in August settled into the lower levels seen since the end of June and are likely to remain for the coming months amid ample tonnage and sluggish demand for tankers. Floating storage continued to unwind, removing a factor supporting rates in recent months. Clean tanker freight rates picked up from the poor performance seen in the previous month, but remained below levels seen in the same month last ...

The European Union must diversify its trade relations, become less dependent on Asian suppliers in certain areas such as medical precursors, and develop its own value chains within the 27-member bloc, German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier told Reuters. “The coronavirus pandemic has taught us that Europe must stick together and diversify its trade relations,” Altmaier said in remarks cleared for publication on Friday. “That means that there must be no spanner in the works of the EU’s internal market and that we have to ensure more resilient supply chains, the ...

In all our previous notes and podcasts we have been relatively bullish on bunker prices rising from their extreme lows at end April, even though at some stages there was a stuttering in the upward trend. The sentiment was driven by tightening oil fundamentals; demand began to rebound and OPEC+ made major cuts to oil production. But these signals have taken a turn. In our Integr8 podcast 3 weeks ago we did take a more nervous approach to any further short term rises in price, but bunker prices have taken ...

LNG tanker queues have begun to form on the US Gulf Coast this week, as three of the US’ major export facilities began ramping up production on improved export economics. A total of seven tankers are in holding patterns just off the US Gulf Coast, with another two currently loading, data from S&P Global Platts Analytics showed Sept. 17. Four of the tankers were queuing just off Port Arthur, where the US’ largest export facility Sabine Pass is located. Another two tankers were in a holding pattern just offshore of ...

Projects for standard contracts and clauses covering almost every sector of the shipping industry will be reviewed by BIMCO’s Documentary Committee (DC) when it meets on 21 and 22 September. The gathering of over 70 documentary experts from around the world will take place online for the first time and two new contracts and two clauses are set to be approved for publication. With only one meeting taking place this year due to the coronavirus, the Committee has a very full agenda ahead next week. For the tanker sector, there ...

British shoppers spent more last month, taking sales further above pre-COVID levels, as strong online demand helped much of the sector rebound faster than the rest of the economy. Retail sales volumes rose by 0.8% in August, the Office for National Statistics said on Friday — slightly above the average 0.7% forecast in a Reuters poll. Compared with a year earlier, they were up 2.8%, just below forecasts of 3.0% annual growth. Sales had already overtaken pre-COVID levels in July and now stand 4.0% higher than before the crisis, although ...

The composite index increased 6.1% this week and 104.9% up when compared with same period of 2019. The average composite index of the WCI, assessed by Drewry for year-to-date, is $1,802 per 40ft container, which is $371 higher than the five-year average of $1,431 per 40ft container. Drewry’s composite World Container index increased by 6.1% to $2,603.07 per 40ft container. Freight rates from Shanghai to Genoa surged 26% or $572 to touch $2,790 per 40ft box. Also, Shanghai to Rotterdam rates increased by 7% – an increase of $153 to ...

Five candidates from Nigeria to South Korea are bidding to become the next director-general of the World Trade Organization to replace Roberto Azevedo, who stepped down at the end of August. The next chief will broker international trade talks in the face of widening U.S.-China conflict, protectionism increased by the COVID-19 pandemic and pressure to reform trade rules. U.S. President Donald Trump’s “America First” policies have upended the global trading order and presented an existential threat to the WTO. Trump has called the institution “broken” and “horrible.” His administration has ...

The number of ships fuelled by liquefied natural gas (LNG) is expected to more than double by 2030, driven by the shipping industry’s desire to cut emissions, a senior executive at Malaysia’s Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) said. Currently, less than 400 out of a total of more than 80,000 registered ships, run on LNG as fuel source. This number could increase to 1,000 vessels globally by 2030, said Mohd Rafe Mohamed Ramli, head of global LNG bunkering at Petronas Marine. The shipping industry has been under pressure to reduce carbon ...

In tanker and dry bulk shipping, the rate is the rate. It’s whatever the market says it is. It can be below zero (net of costs). It can be six figures per day. No government can intervene. This is definitely not the case in container shipping. Record-high trans-Pacific spot rates and container-equipment shortfalls in Asia have now caught the eye of powerful government regulators. The China Ministry of Transportation and Communication questioned liner reps in a special meeting last Friday. In the aftermath of that sit-down, concerns have been raised ...

SEACOR Marine Holdings Inc. (NYSE:SMHI) (the “Company” or “SEACOR Marine”), a leading provider of marine and support transportation services to offshore oil and natural gas and wind farm facilities worldwide, yesterday announced it has formed a Sustainability Council to oversee the Company’s enhanced Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) program. In conjunction with today’s announcement, SEACOR Marine’s Sustainability Council has published an ESG presentation (https://ir.seacormarine.com/events-and-presentations) and launched a new section of the Company’s website (https://seacormarine.com/esg) to highlight both SEACOR Marine’s track record of sustainable practices, as well as its future plans ...

Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said on Friday the central bank will work closely with the new government led by Yoshihide Suga to combat the pain inflicted on the economy by the coronavirus pandemic. “Japan’s economy will likely follow an improving trend. But the pace of improvement will only be moderate as the impact of COVID-19 remains worldwide,” Kuroda said in an online seminar hosted by the Asian Development Bank. “The BOJ will continue supporting the economy in cooperation with the new government,” he added. Source: Reuters (Reporting by ...

The US Federal Maritime Commission is reviewing the container shipping market for possible non-competitive practices after container rates to the US Atlantic and Pacific coasts set new records in the week to Sept. 17. The US shipping industry regulator said in a statement on Sept. 16 that it was increasing its scrutiny of the three major container shipping alliances — THE Alliance, 2M Alliance and Ocean Alliance — in response to “unusual circumstances and challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic.” Specifically, the FMC said it was reviewing what kind of ...

After their brief rally last week, VLCC spot rates have come under pressure once more, with sentiment again softening.