StormGeo, a global leader in weather intelligence software and decision support services, is announcing that Alfa Laval, a world leader in heat transfer, centrifugal separation and fluid handling – will acquire StormGeo to accelerate their digital services offering and to add an important tool to the decarbonizing tool box offering. Alfa Laval is headquartered in Lund, Sweden and has a 138-year history of growth and visionary innovation, with 16,700 employees globally. The company serves the Food & Water, Energy and Marine industries. It is listed on the Swedish stock exchange. ...

The ongoing second wave of the deadly coronavirus pandemic in India is expected to snowball into a major disruptor for the shipping and logistics industry as several ports globally are shunning ships which have called at any location along the South Asian coastline. Bunkering operations could also come in the ambit of this catastrophic wave that has engulfed India, although no major disruptions have been noted yet as demand has been lackluster, bunker industry sources said. The impact on global shipping logistics from India’s isolation could become a very significant ...

During the current consolidated fiscal year, the COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on the global economy, causing a year on year decline in cargo volumes across the businesses in the first quarter. From the second quarter, a stronger than expected demand recovery occurred, and supported by robust cargo volumes particularly in the Liner Trade, Air Cargo Transportation and Logistics segments, strong results were achieved. In the container shipping division, robust shipping demand continued following increased demand for medical supplies and consumer goods in relation to stay at home demand. ...

South Korea’s antitrust watchdog has embarked on a process of taking punitive actions against sea shipping companies for price rigging. According to multiple industry sources on Monday, the Fair Trade Commission has recently notified major local shippers including Korea’s sea flag carrier HMM Co., Korea Marine Transport Co., and Sinokor Merchant Marine Co. about the findings about its investigation into the companies’ possible illegal price fixing. The FTC commenced the investigation three years ago immediately after timber importers in Korea raised suspicion with the watchdog over shipping price collusion, saying ...

China’s ferrous prices took off on Monday, with benchmark iron ore and steel futures hitting all-time highs amid robust demand and supply concerns, as expectations of rising inflation rates also fuelled speculative buying. Capacity utilisation rates of blast furnaces at 247 steel mills across China jumped to 90.59% last week, the highest since early March, data from Mysteel consultancy showed. The most active iron ore futures contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange, for September delivery, soared 10% to a record high of 1,326 yuan ($206.30) per tonne. On the Singapore ...

Elbana di Navigazione chose to digitalize its core business, adopting successful digital strategies to their fleet management processes and re-confirming its trust in IB’s expertise and solutions. The cooperation between Elbana and IB started more than 10 years ago, when the Tuscan Shipping company selected InfoSHIP to manage the whole fleet’s assets’ life cycle and procurement process for its five stainless steel chemical tankers. Today that project reaches a further stage of implementation, through the migration of the system installed on each of Elbana’s ships and offices to the latest ...

Castor Maritime Inc., a diversified global shipping company, announces the closing and drawdown, through two of its ship-owning subsidiaries, of a $18.0 million senior term loan facility with a European bank (the “$18.0 Million Financing”), secured by two of its tanker vessels. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the $18.0 Million Financing for general corporate purposes, including supporting the Company’s growth plans. The $18.0 Million Financing has a tenor of four years and bears interest at LIBOR plus 3.20% per annum. Castor Maritime Inc. is an international ...

Iron ore prices have surged in the last week off the back of Chinese production cuts and the speculation of further issues between Australia and China. Despite the second of those catalysts, Australia’s big three iron ore miners – Fortescque Metals Group, BHP Group and Rio Tinto – saw their share prices surge on Monday off the back of this run-up in the commodity. IG’s iron ore instrument surged on Monday, gaining 7.7% or around 85 points, to trade above the 1300 handle – as of 12:27PM Melbourne local time. ...

China Taiyuan coal transaction price index stood at 144.24 points Monday, up 2.8 percent week on week and marking a consecutive rise for four weeks. The index, released by China Taiyuan Coal Transaction Center (CTCTC) based in Shanxi, a coal-rich province, reflects the coal price levels and changes in the main production areas of China. It is published every Monday. Analysts said that purchasing demand of end users continues to be released, and the thermal coal market in producing areas remains tight, causing the prices to rise. With more than ...

Copper raced to a new record peak on Monday as investors worried about missing out on further gains while some industrial users bit the bullet after waiting for lower prices. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange climbed to an all-time high of $10,747.50 a tonne after first breaking through a decade-old record on Friday. It pared gains and was last up 2.8% at $10,703 a tonne by 1015 GMT. “Momentum is king, it’s a hot potato right now, and a lot of investors are looking the market with despair ...

Indonesia’s coal industry is running out of options. The pot of money for coal power is drying up. On Apr 22, South Korea announced it will no longer provide financial support for overseas coal projects. China seems to be the only country willing to provide the immense financial aid that Indonesia’s bloated coal industry needs to keep going. East Asia has historically been the source of finance for Indonesia’s coal industry, where pro-coal market controls and state support for intensive coal mining have made fossil fuels cheap and abundant. Coal ...

A resurgent Iran pumped its largest volume of crude in almost two years in April, while an increasingly compliance-challenged Russia also boosted its output yet again, bringing total production by OPEC and its allies to a three-month high, according to the latest S&P Global Platts survey. OPEC produced 25.28 million b/d, up 80,000 b/d from March; Russia and eight other non-OPEC partners in the group’s supply accord added 13.21 million b/d, an increase of 130,000 b/d, the survey found. The rising output is a preview of the wave of OPEC+ ...

Supplies of critical minerals essential for key clean energy technologies like electric vehicles and wind turbines need to pick up sharply over the coming decades to meet the world’s climate goals, creating potential energy security hazards that governments must act now to address, according to a new report by the International Energy Agency. The special report, The Role of Critical Minerals in Clean Energy Transitions, is the most comprehensive global study to date on the central importance of minerals such as copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt and rare earth elements in ...

Asia’s crude oil market activity in the May 10-14 trading week is expected to pick up steam, although sentiment continues to be weighed down by demand concerns across Asia amid COVID-19 resurgences, which have caused several countries to introduce, or increase lockdown measures. July ICE Brent crude futures were pegged at $68.59/b at 0300 GMT May 10, up 65 cents/b from the 0830 GMT Asian close on May 7. Middle East Crude **Activity in the week ahead will focus on the issuance of buy and sell tenders by Asian refiners ...

In February 2021, a record-breaking cold snap hit the Lower 48 states. Extreme winter weather caused natural gas production freeze-offs and higher electricity and commodity prices, especially in the top energy-consuming state, Texas. The cold snap affected natural gas production and industrial sector consumption the most, which had the largest monthly declines on record, while residential sector consumption reached a record high. U.S. natural gas production in February 2021—measured by gross withdrawals—averaged 104.8 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d), an 8.1 Bcf/d (7%) decrease from January, the largest monthly decline ...