The Commercial Court handed down judgment today in Piraeus Bank v Antares Underwriting Limited and others (‘The ZOUZOU’), providing clarity in respect of the proper construction and scope of indemnity cover of mortgagee’s interest insurance (MII) policies. Kennedys, together with Guy Blackwood QC and Benjamin Coffer of Quadrant Chambers, were instructed on behalf of the successful defendant MII underwriters. In the judgment, which will be welcomed by the international marine insurance market, the Commercial Court – after considering issues around detention and constructive total loss – rejected in full a ...

The number of ships transiting the Suez Canal has increased by 10 percent until May this year compared to the same period last year, Suez Canal Authority Chairman Osama Rabie said. In remarks to CBC, Rabie said the number of ships transiting the canal from the beginning of the year until 1 May has reached 1,166 compared to 1,066 last year. Rabie said the SCA has been aware of the negative impact of the Russia-Ukraine crisis, including a decline in trade in the Black Sea region, which passes through the ...

Renewed disruptions, backlogs, and even possibly “chaos” had been predicted throughout the shipping industry as China ramped up operations in Shanghai and resumed manufacturing and supply chain operations after an eight-week lockdown, said maritime and marine news provider The Maritime Executive. In a report on Wednesday (May 18), the portal said vessel diversions increased rapidly starting in mid-April resulting in a growing amount of export cargo not shipped and now the restart in operations was expected to come just as the shipping industry traditional moved toward a peak season as ...

China’s coking coal imports from Russia surged to a record in April, as buyers took advantage of a large discount against other supplies. The world’s biggest coal consumer brought in 1.71 million tonnes of the metallurgical coal from Russia last month, more than double the 761,287 tonnes in the same period in 2021, data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Friday. As many buyers have stopped buying from Russia ahead of a European Union embargo due to be implemented in August, Russian cargoes are priced at a steep ...

Iran’s crude exports to China have fallen sharply since the start of the Ukraine war as Beijing favoured heavily discounted Russian barrels, leaving almost 40 million barrels of Iranian oil stored on tankers at sea in Asia and seeking buyers. U.S. and European sanctions imposed over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 have pushed more Russian crude east, where China has snapped it up, cutting demand for oil from Iran and Venezuela, which are also both under Western sanctions. About 20 vessels with oil from Iran were at anchor ...

China’s total wheat imports decreased by 22.4 percent year-on-year in April, but imports from Australia, France and Russia have skyrocketed, the latest statistics from Chinese customs showed. Imports from Australia, in particular, surged by over 500 percent from last year, due to a low basis and changed domestic and global market conditions. However, Australia’s hostile approach toward China continues to cast a dark cloud over the development of bilateral trade, experts said. In April, China imported 495,614 tons of Australian wheat, up 10.5 percent from March and 525.72 percent year-on-year, ...

China’s manufacturing activity, especially in the country’s economic hub of Shanghai and nearby areas, has been showing recovery signs since mid-May. However, the pace of recovery has remained slow so far and steel demand from the sector is likely to stay lackluster until manufacturing production could return to normal in June. China’s manufacturing production index of steel consumption produced by S&P Global Commodity Insights stood at 102 points in April, plunging 28 points from the same period of 2021 and by 16 points from 2020. The production slump of manufactured ...

The rapid escalation of European steel prices, caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, faltered during late April and early May. Stocks throughout the supply chain were full, as a consequence of the initial panic-buying. Thereafter, demand slowed, with several other factors contributing to market uncertainty. The war in Ukraine continues, with few prospects of a cessation of hostilities in the short term. Many supply routes from the region remain blocked or under sanctions. European steel rerollers, however, have succeeded in obtaining alternative feedstock, allowing them to resume normal production. Major ...

U.S. grains futures edged higher on Monday, lifted by a weaker dollar, gains in crude oil and as adverse weather conditions threatened production in key producing countries. The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was up 0.9% at $10.79-1/4 a bushel, as of 0343 GMT, after falling 0.74% last week. “Wheat supplies for exports are only shrinking because of the Ukraine war, exports ban and deteriorating weather conditions,” said a Mumbai-based trader with a global trading house. “French and U.S. crop numbers are now getting revised ...

Oil prices gained on Monday with U.S. fuel demand, tight supply and a slightly weaker U.S. dollar supporting the market, as Shanghai prepares to reopen after a two-month lockdown fuelled worries about a sharp slowdown in growth. Brent crude futures rose 97 cents to $113.52 a barrel at 0651 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures climbed 80 cents, or 0.73%, to $111.08 a barrel, adding to last week’s small gains for both contracts. “Oil prices are supported as gasoline markets remain tight amid solid demand heading into ...

Energy Tightness in the refined products market continues to support the oil market. ICE Brent managed to eke out a gain of a little under 1% last week, which saw it settle above US$112/bbl. But despite the increasingly tight US gasoline market, speculators have been reluctant to jump into RBOB gasoline. The speculative net long in RBOB increased by just 4,080 lots over the last reporting week to 60,557 lots as of last Tuesday. This is still some distance from the slightly more than 80k lots seen back in February ...

Oil fundamentals are expected to tighten further as sanctions by the EU on Russian oil exports slowly take effect, squeezing supply even as demand gradually picks up, a new report by UK consultancy Energy Aspects has said. Brent, the global benchmark for two thirds of the world’s oil, is closing in on “key technical levels”, with refinery demand set to accelerate further by the end of May, which will push crude higher, the report said. “We expect forward product prices to continue rolling up with growing demand. Upstream maintenance across ...

By May 18, the volume of gas in storage was slightly above the ten-year average (+2 TWh) up from a large deficit at the end of January (-134 TWh). But with storage already above average, inventories cannot continue accumulating at such a rate without threatening to overwhelm available capacity. Futures prices for deliveries this summer are already softening to slow storage additions and encourage more consumption by industrial users and power producers. Benchmark futures for deliveries scheduled in July 2022 have fallen close to their lowest since Russia’s invasion of ...

Asian stocks weakened on Monday as investors worried inflation and rising interest rates would hamper the global economic outlook and China’s COVID-19 situation weighed on sentiment, with tech firms particularly hit. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.3% as the region’s major markets traded in the red. Oil rose and gold extended its recent gains. However, U.S. and European markets appeared to shrug off the gloomy Asian mood with the pan-region Euro Stoxx 50 futures up 1.35%, German DAX futures 1.4% higher and FTSE futures climbing ...

Asian currencies overcame early market Asian FX edges higher as dollar weakens on China growth hopes pressure to edge higher against a tepid U.S. dollar on Monday, while the Singaporean dollar rose to a 2-1/2-week high after data showed the city-state witnessed its fastest rise in core inflation in a decade. South Korea’s won and the Taiwanese dollar rose 0.3% and 0.1%, respectively, while the Thai baht and Philippine peso traded flat. The dollar weakened against major currencies, following its first weekly loss in nearly two months, as investors cut ...