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The world’s largest financial institutions increased their backing of companies in the agriculture, forestry and land use sectors most responsible for deforestation in 2021, a new study showed on Tuesday. Issued by the Forests & Finance Coalition of NGOs, which looks to improve transparency, policies, systems and regulations in the financial sector, the report found that finance to those companies rose over 60% to $47 billion between 2020 and 2021. The analysis comes ahead of the next round of global climate talks in November at which protection of rainforests and ...

Production at U.S. factories rose in September led by output gains in both durable and nondurable goods, indicating the manufacturing sector remains on reasonable footing despite the Federal Reserve’s efforts to hamper demand through higher interest rates. Manufacturing output rose 0.4% last month, keeping pace with an upwardly revised 0.4% gain in August, the Federal Reserve said on Tuesday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast factory production would rise 0.2%. Output increased 4.7% from a year earlier. Overall industrial production rose 0.4%, after slipping 0.1% the prior month. Economists polled ...

The Baltic Exchange’s dry bulk sea freight index (.BADI), tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, rose on Monday, on higher rates for capesize and panamax vessel segments. The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax shipping vessels, rose 5 points, or about 0.3%, to 1,843. The capesize index (.BACI) rose 20 points, or 0.92%, to 2,186. Average daily earnings for capesizes (.BATCA), which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as coal and steel-making ingredi-ent iron ore used in construction, were up $168 to $18,133. Meanwhile, ...

Europe’s demand has been driving a surge in US LNG exports. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Banchero Costa said that “global seaborne LNG trade has continued to surge this year, helped also by the events in Ukraine. In the first 9 months of 2022, global shipments of LNG increased by +6.0% y-o-y to 300.6 mln tonnes, based on Refinitiv vessel tracking data. By far the biggest increase in demand this year came from Europe. In Jan-Sep 2022, the European Union imported 73.2 mln tonnes of LNG, an increase of ...

Enhancing commitment to exploring the marine ecosystem of the Red Sea, specifically its coastal coral reefs, representatives of AD Ports Group – a global facilitator of trade and logistics – recently conducted a capacity-building workshop entitled ‘Coastal defence infrastructure: Barren rocks or novel ecosystems?’ in Aqaba. The workshop – which was attended by the Environmental Department of the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA) and professors from the Marine Science Station (MSS), an inter-university research institute owned by the University of Jordan and Yarmouk University – explored the latest research ...

Digitalisation may prove one of the maritime industry’s most effective tools to face multiple challenges posed by decarbonisation, recruit-ment and even diversity, according to WISTA International President Despina Panayiotou Theodosiou. As co-CEO of leading satellite communications and digital solutions provider Tototheo Maritime, Despina Panayiotou Theodosiou knows all about the impact connectivity has on commercial ship efficiency, but her mind is also constantly probing for links between progressive technology and Environmental, Social and Governance concerns. “New technologies and digitalisation are there to help us achieve our goals, but it is important ...

As Chinese President Xi Jinping opened the landmark Communist Party Congress, the country’s vast financial bureaucracy has been busily tamping down ripples of turmoil across its currency and stock markets. Chinese state banks are stepping up intervention to defend the weakening yuan, banking sources told Reuters on Monday. Scores of companies have announced share buybacks or executive share purchase plans since Friday, when regulators unveiled plans to ease share buyback rules. State-owned banks vowed in unison that they would boost support for the economy while state-run asset managers pledged in ...

New British finance minister Jeremy Hunt on Monday announced almost a complete U-turn on Prime Minister Liz Truss’s plan to boost economic growth through unfunded tax cuts, which had sent international investors bolting for the exit. Here are some of the policy reversals announced by Hunt, which he said would raise 32 billion pounds ($36.19 billion) for the government finances. INCOME TAX Truss had planned for the basic rate of income tax to be cut to 19% from 20% in April 2023, one year earlier than expected. Hunt announced this ...

Russia’s biggest oil exporter Rosneft has expanded its tanker chartering business to ease oil shipments for buyers amid looming Western sanctions on insurance of Russian oil shipments, three sources familiar with the matter said. Previously, state-controlled Rosneft, which produces more than 40% of Russian oil, would sell its oil at the port of loading, meaning the buyer would have to find tankers and handle freight and insurance costs for the voyage. But with new, tighter Western sanctions looming, Rosneft’s customers are asking the company to handle delivery to the final ...

Shipping companies are focusing on the future and increasingly turning to digital technology to streamline operations, become more efficient and make cost savings. Whilst prior to the COVID-19 pandemic many had been slow to embrace digital technology, now companies recognise it can be a way to become more agile, adaptable and competitive. A report by Inmarsat last year highlighted that the pandemic was a “universal disruptor and catalyst for digital transformation” and the adoption of digital technology in the maritime sector will be three years ahead of previous estimates by ...

India’s merchandise exports grew 4.8 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to $35.45 billion in September, according to revised data released by the commerce department on Friday, reversing its earlier estimate of a contraction for the first time in 19 months. Meanwhile, imports rose 8.66 per cent YoY to $61.16 billion in September. This resulted in a trade deficit of $25.71 billion as against $22.47 billion last year. However, the deficit eased sequentially from $27.98 billion in August, after hitting a record high of $30 billion in July. Preliminary trade data released ...

China’s state banks stepped up their intervention to defend a weakening yuan on Monday, with banking sources telling Reuters these banks sold a high volume of U.S. dollars and used a combination of swaps and spot trades. Six banking sources told Reuters the country’s major state-owned banks were spotted swapping yuan for U.S. dollars in the forwards market and selling those dollars in the spot market, a playbook move used by China in 2018 and 2019 as well. The selling seemed to be aimed at stabilising the yuan, with the ...

Pilbara Ports Authority has delivered a total monthly throughput of 62.0 million tonnes (Mt) for September 2022. This throughput was a two per cent decrease compared to September 2021. The Port of Port Hedland achieved a monthly throughput of 46.3Mt, of which 46.0Mt was iron ore exports. This was a three per cent decrease to total throughput compared to September 2021. Imports through the Port of Port Hedland totalled 126,000 tonnes, a decrease of 10 per cent compared to September 2021. The Port of Dampier delivered a total throughput of ...

Construction of Jining Energy Development Group Co., Ltd. (Jining Energy)’s project of manufacturing new energy-powered inland ships kicked off on Oct. 11 in Zoucheng, a county-level city administered by Jining city, east China’s Shandong Province. By leveraging its complete-industrial-chain edge in the modern port and shipping logistics industry, Jining Energy will work on the project to build the country’s first green, modern and standardized manufacturing base that integrates research and development, design, and intelligent manufacturing of inland ships. With a planned area of about 1,125 mu (75 hectares), the project ...

The good news is that there were fewer than 100 container ships stuck waiting off North American ports on Friday. The bad news is that there were still 99 container ships offshore and the pre-COVID norm was in the single digits. There’s still a long way to go to clear the backlog. But the current tally is now back to June levels and 35% off recent highs. The number of ships waiting off North American ports peaked at around 150 in January, with waiting vessels almost entirely off the West ...