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The first batch of derivative contracts for a cleaner type of marine fuel oil that complies with stricter emissions rules starting in 2020 traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), the CME Group said on Friday. A trade for 10 lots of the Singapore free-on-board (FOB) marine fuel with 0.5 percent sulphur content mini futures contract was cleared on Jan. 31, a Singapore-based spokesman for the CME Group said in an e-mail on Friday. The trade was priced at $517 per metric tonne for delivery in December 2019, the ...

Indonesia wants to re-position its Batam island as an alternative shipping and manufacturing hub to Singapore with a potential to draw US$60 billion (S$81 billion) in new investment. Batam and nearby islands – located less than 30km south of Singapore – have attracted about US$20 billion of investment since the government began promoting them as industrial area in the 1970s. The region, declared a free-trade zone in 2007, is home to thousands of local and foreign firms producing goods from computers to oil rigs. Now, the authorities want to expand ...

Supply of high sulfur 380 CST fuel oil, one of the fuels used to power tankers, remained tight at the port of Rotterdam, the Netherlands, sources said. “Avails were a little tight to be honest [late Thursday afternoon]. Only three out of nine suppliers quoted,” a buyer said. “I wonder whether people [are] waiting for new contract barrels to come into effect in February, because perhaps now if they load spot cargoes they pay higher price,” the buyer added. However, some local suppliers said availability was satisfactory at the port ...

The New York Mercantile Exchange will list two dirty freight futures or Forward Freight Agreements — the Aframax 70,000 mt US Gulf Coast-UK Continent and VLCC 270,000 mt US Gulf Coast-China routes — effective February 17 for a trade date of February 19, the CME Group told S&P Global Platts. According to a CME Group special executive report, the FFAs will trade on the CME Globex electronic platform and will be listed under the commodity codes USC for the VLCC route and USE for the Aframax run. The final settlement ...

Chinese restrictions on imports of Australian coking coal have now been extended to thermal coal as well, stoking fears the curbs may spread to more discharge ports across the country, sources said Friday. Market sources with knowledge of the matter told S&P Global Platts this week that China had imposed port restrictions on coking coal imports at several ports in northeastern China including Bayuquan, Dandong and Dalian effective Tuesday afternoon. Rizhao port in Shandong province had confirmed to Platts on Friday that the curbs would apply to Australian coal, including ...

US sanctions on exports of crude and crude products from Venezuela were seen priced into Houston IFO 380, bunker sources said. “I think Houston is finally reacting to the Venezuela news,” a trader source said. Houston IFO 380 pricing hit a monthly high of $386/mt Wednesday, marking a 17.5% climb from the monthly low of $318.50/mt on January 2. The market rebounded higher on congestion and tight availability from weather disruptions. Market feedback attributed the increases partly to confusion about what the sanctions meant to the exports from the country. ...

The Cayman Islands Shipping Registry enjoyed its second best year ever in 2018, and for the first time in its 115-year history ended last year with 2,215 vessels registered — 1,897 pleasure vessels and 318 commercial vessels. The registry has a total of 5.6 million gross tonnes, which is a 8.5% net increase on the previous year. It also continues to dominate the super-yacht new build market, with a 17% increase in the new build portfolio for 2018. Officials said this success demonstrates that Cayman is being recognised for its ...

The Chinese thermal coal market was in a state of flux after talks of Australian coking coal import restrictions were imposed in parts of China, sources said. Market sources with knowledge of the matter told S&P Global Platts Wednesday that China had imposed port restrictions on coking coal imports at several ports in Northeast China including Bayuquan, Dandong and Dalian effective Tuesday afternoon. Three Chinese steelmakers confirmed that they had received verbal notice from Northeast China ports’ agents on the port restrictions imposed. Chinese coking and thermal coal futures prices ...

Iranian crude oil imports by Asia’s top four buyers dropped to the lowest volume in three years in 2018 amid U.S. sanctions on Tehran, but China and India stepped up imports in December after getting waivers from Washington. Asia’s top four buyers of Iranian crude – China, India, Japan and South Korea – imported a total 1.31 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2018, down 21 percent from the previous year, data from the countries showed. That was the lowest since about 1 million bpd in 2015, when a previous ...

Crude oil imports for China’s independent refineries in January eased 8.7% month on month to 11.52 million mt, or 2.72 million b/d, a monthly survey by S&P Global Platts showed Friday. It represented a sharp year-on-year increase of 27.7%, which was higher than market expectations, but down from the historical high of 12.6 million mt in December. The relatively strong imports in January mainly stemmed from logistical constraints, as several vessels scheduled for second-half December delivery were held up in long vessel queues and could only discharge their cargoes in ...

China will buy 5 million mt of soybeans from the US, China’s lead negotiator Vice Premier Liu He said during Thursday’s meeting in the Oval office with President Donald Trump. The initial offer from China did not provide further clarification and was issued after the close of CBOT soybean futures. Although, there was not an immediate reaction on pricing, traders looked for further details to qualify the original statement. As part of prior negotiations, China has already purchased and estimated 5 million mt for delivery in the current 2018-2019 marketing ...

Prices of steel-making raw materials in China climbed to multi-month peaks on Friday, buoyed by supply disruption issues, with iron ore hitting its highest level in 22 months after a seven-day rally. The most traded iron ore contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange rose to as high as 623 yuan ($92.46) a tonne, up 6.6 percent, and was at 621.5 yuan at the end of trading, extending its rally into a seventh session. Iron ore posted its fifth straight weekly gain and surged more than 20 percent this year. The ...

The US-China trade dispute is injecting uncertainty in global coking coal markets, while Asian demand adds pricing strength into the global market, US met coke producer DTE Energy and other speakers said at the Coaltrans USA conference. “China is still the 800-pound gorilla in the markets,” Mike Nobis, DTE Energy director of coal procurement, told the Coaltrans USA conference in Miami. Until the issue is resolved, with US tariffs set to rise on more Chinese goods to 25%, it will be hard to read how this will affect coking coal ...

Commodities love a tragedy. Last week’s burst of a tailings dam at a Vale SA iron ore mine in Brazil’s Minas Gerais state has left close to a hundred, and possibly approaching 400, people dead. Far from wilting at the news, iron ore has been surging – up 12 percent in the last five days, its biggest five-day jump in about 18 months. That seeming cold-heartedness is only natural. Vale produces about a quarter of the iron ore traded by sea. With the company announcing this week that it would ...

Fortescue Metals Group has enjoyed a demand surge as Chinese steel mills embrace its new, higher iron content mix with customers signing new deals after trialling the product. The higher iron content ore is a key plank of the mining giant’s strategy, with product attracting higher prices than lower iron grades. “Our West Pilbara Fines introduction has gone very smoothly, there’s been widespread support for the product and we have healthy sales orders,” Fortescue director of operations Greg Lilleyman said following a visit to Chinese mill operators in January. Mr ...