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Malaysia is prepared to meet India’s demand for palm oil in light of potentially inconsistent supply from Indonesia as a result of changes in palm oil export policy, which have created market uncertainty for major importing countries. Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin said that in less than one year, Indonesia’s policy on palm oil export has created market uncertainties in major importing countries like India. “The MPIC (Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities) will step up efforts to promote Malaysian palm oil, not just in India but ...

U.S. natural gas futures slid on Thursday after a federal report showed a bigger-than-expected injection into storage and forecasts for cooler weather that could reduce air-conditioning demand. Front-month gas futures fell 21.2 cents, or 2.6%, to $8.054 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) at 11:25 a.m. EDT (1525 GMT). “The EIA storage report was much more bearish than most were anticipating. If more gas is headed to storage, then more will be available in winter, which pushes prices downwards,” said John Abeln, an analyst with data provider Refinitiv. The U.S. ...

Impact of sanctions 04 Aug 2022, Rotterdam, Netherlands The Port of Rotterdam has issued an update on the impact on operations of the European Council sanctions package prohibiting the import of oil and oil products from Russia. Read more » Submarine outfall inspection works off Mui Wo 04 Aug 2022, Hong Kong For approximately two months, submarine outfall inspection works will be carried out. Read more » Repair works at Vopak Penjuru Terminal 04 Aug 2022, Singapore Until 30 October 2022, repair works are being carried out at Vopak Penjuru ...

Overseas investors turned net sellers of Chinese stocks in July, as mainland stock prices tumbled on concerns that COVID-19 flare-ups and ensuing lockdowns would further disrupt economic activity. Refinitiv data showed foreigners sold a net 21.07 billion yuan ($3.12 billion) worth of mainland shares in July via Stock Connect, a key cross-border link between the mainland and Hong Kong exchanges. They sold a net 11.8 billion yuan worth of shares in the Shanghai stock exchange, and 9.27 billion in the Shenzhen stock exchange. Foreigners had bought a cumulative 95.45 billion ...

The U.S. trade deficit narrowed sharply in June as exports surged to a record high, a trend that could see trade continuing to contribute to gross domestic product in the third quarter. The Commerce Department said on Thursday that the trade deficit decreased 6.2% to $79.6 billion. Exports of goods and services shot up 1.7% to an all-time high of $260.8 billion, while imports slipped 0.3% to $340.4 billion. Trade was the economy’s only bright spot in the second quarter, adding 1.43 percentage points to gross domestic product after being ...

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits increased last week, suggesting some softening in the labor market, though overall conditions remain tight. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 260,000 for the week ended July 30, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 259,000 applications for the latest week. Claims broke above 230,000 at the beginning of June, hitting an eight-month high of 261,000 in mid-July. Still, they remain below the 270,000-300,000 range that economists say would ...

Greece is having a better-than-expected summer tourism season and this year’s revenues will help alleviate the impact of soaring energy prices on society, government spokesman Giannis Oikonomou said on Thursday. Tourism accounts for a fifth of the Greek economy and one in five jobs. Government and industry officials had forecast this year’s revenues from the vital sector could reach 80% to 90% of the record-high level seen in 2019. Some officials are now hopeful this year could beat that record. “As we go through the first days of August, we ...

The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index dropped to its lowest since February on Wednesday, extending its decline to the eighth day, on lower demand across vessel segments. The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax shipping vessels, fell 86 points, or 4.7%, to 1,731 points. The capesize index dropped 181 points, or 9.2%, to its lowest since April 21, at 1,790 points. Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, were down $1,505 to $14,842. “A 22.8% ...

The ship recycling market has remained in a difficult state with very few demolition candidates. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Clarkson Platou Hellas said that “there was more upheaval to report this week, this time coming from Bangladesh, where despite price levels showing signs of improving, the Bangladeshi Government introduced new restrictions to limit the outgoing volume of U.S. Dollars for ‘essential’ purchases only. This will now pose serious questions concerning these improved levels for any available tonnage in the foreseeable future. As such, the government announced that any ...

Container shipping capacity between the Far East and the US East Coast has risen sharply from last year as shippers have shifted volumes towards the East Coast (USEC) and away from the West Coast (USWC) – and carriers have responded by adjusting their networks. In the past three months (as of July 24th), capacity between the Far East and the US EC rose by 18.9% compared to the same period in 2021 (Source: Sea-Intelligence). Over the 12-week period, the average capacity deployed by carriers on this trade was 210 000 ...

Water levels on the river Rhine in Germany fell again in hot, dry weather this week and cargo vessels are sailing with reduced loads with transport prices rising, vessel brokers and commodity traders said on Wednesday. Shallow water is hampering shipping on the entire river in Germany. Water at the chokepoint of Kaub near Koblenz is especially low and some vessels are only sailing about 25% full, commodity traders said. “Vessels are continuing to sail, it is up to the vessel owners to decide whether there is deep enough water ...

A new Concentrated Inspection Campaign (CIC) has been announced by the Paris and Tokyo MOUs (Memoranda of Understandings), specifically focusing on STCW compliance. So, ship owners, operators, Masters and crews should now focus on the specific details as clearly identified by them as listed below. The campaign will run for three months, from 1 September 2022 to 30 November 2022. The CIC inspections will be applicable for all ships and conducted in conjunction with the regular Port State Control inspection. A ship will be subject to only one inspection under ...

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday blamed Moscow for delays in the return of gas turbine for the Nord Stream 1 pipeline that had been serviced in Canada but has since been stranded in Germany in an escalating energy standoff. “The turbine works,” Scholz said during a factory visit to Siemens Energy ENR1n.DE in Muelheim an der Ruhr. “It (the turbine) can be transported and used at any time,” he said. “The non-fulfilment of the gas supply contracts has no technical reasons whatsoever,” the chancellor added. European governments have accused ...

Shipping companies have had one of their best quarters in years with most reporting double-digit growth thanks to high rates. Vinalines, the country’s biggest shipper, saw a near doubling of its profits year-on-year to VND1.43 trillion (US$61.19 million) in the second quarter. Private player Gemadept reported an 87 percent increase in profits to VND334 billion, the highest since the second quarter of 2018. Hai An Transport and Stevedoring made it to the top three after profits rose 3.3 times to VND324 billion. It was its most profitable quarter in nearly ...

Dorian LPG Ltd., a leading owner and operator of modern very large gas carriers (“VLGCs”), today reported its financial results for the three months ended June 30, 2022, and announced that its Board of Directors has declared an irregular cash dividend of $1.00 per share of the Company’s common stock, returning over $40.1 million of capital to shareholders. The dividend is payable on or about September 2, 2022 to all shareholders of record as of the close of business on August 15, 2022. Key Recent Developments Declared an irregular cash ...