Iron ore futures closed higher on Friday in daytime trading at the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE). The most active iron ore contract for January 2021 delivery gained 12.5 yuan (about 1.85 U.S. dollars) to close at 803 yuan per tonne. On Friday, the total trading volume of 11 listed iron ore futures contracts on the exchange was 1.55 million lots, with a turnover of 122.99 billion yuan. As the world’s largest importer of iron ore, China opened the DCE iron ore futures to international investors in May 2018. Source: Xinhua

More than 30% of US Gulf of Mexico offshore oil and 25% of natural gas output remained offline Sept. 17 after Hurricane Sally made landfall the day prior, according to the US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. Oil producers began to redeploy evacuated crews, but even more oil was reported shut in than on previous days. Crude producers have shut in 567,770 b/d of crude and 670 MMcf/d of gas output, 30.69% and 24.73% of total offshore US Gulf output, respectively. A total of 70 platforms and rigs were ...

The US oil and gas rig count climbed six in the week ended Sept. 16 to an eight-week high 293, rig data provider Enverus said Sept. 17, but drilling activity across the major named basins edged lower. The number of oil-focused rigs climbed four to 200, while the number of rigs chasing mostly gas edged up two to 93, the highest since the week ended July 1. The uptick marked a fourth straight week of rising US drilling activity, potentially signaling rig counts are set to break out of the ...

Equity funds sucked in more than $26 billion in the week to Sept. 16, BofA research showed, as investors chased U.S. stocks after a sharp selloff earlier in the month led by technology stocks. In a “frenzy into U.S. stocks”, investors pumped nearly $24 billion into equities in the world’s top economy, the largest such inflows since March 2018, said BofA. The inflows come after 10% pullback in Nasdaq 100 .NDX in early September. In a recent fund manager survey by BofA, it found that a “tech bubble” is now ...

Financial leaders from China, Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia vowed on Friday to redouble their efforts to help the region recover economically from the novel coronavirus and to defend a multilateral system of trade and investment. “We will remain vigilant to the continued downside risks … We are taking steps to reduce vulnerabilities to these risks and are determined to continue to use all available policy tools to support the sustained recovery,” they said in a joint statement. “We will remain resolute in our commitment to uphold an open ...

Iraq is forging ahead with plans to boost its refining capacity by about a third by the first quarter of 2022 to reduce dependence on imports of gasoline and gas oil, deputy oil minister told S&P Global Platts Sept. 17. Iraq, which has a current refining capacity of 640,000 b/d and design capacity of 700,000 b/d, plans to add about 210,000 b/d of refining capacity by the first quarter of 2022 and boost the quality of processed products to generate more gasoline and gasoil, Hamed al-Zobai said. “The ministry’s master-plan ...

Storm-tossed U.S. offshore energy producers and exporters began clearing debris on Thursday from Hurricane Sally and booting up idle Gulf of Mexico operations after hunkering down for five days. The storm toppled trees, flooded streets and left about 570,000 homes and businesses from Mississippi to Florida without power. Sally became a tropical storm and spread heavy rains overnight from Alabama to Georgia. Crews returned to at least 30 offshore oil and gas platforms. Chevron Corp CVX.N began restaffing its Blind Faith and Petronius platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. Bristow ...

Some refiners in the Middle East are reducing throughput while others, such as BPCL’s Mumbai, are raising runs. Meanwhile, clouds are gathering around Australia’s Geelong refinery. Runs fell in China and India in July, the International Energy Agency said in its latest report. Refineries in India reduced rates in July after many states reimposed lockdowns to combat the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, according to S&P Global Platts data. ** India’s Reliance Industries Ltd. cut the combined run rate for two of its refineries in July for the fifth month ...

Sri Lanka is seeking at least 340 million rupees ($1.9 million) from the owner of the stricken oil supertanker New Diamond for assistance given to the vessel since it caught fire on Sept. 3, the coordinating officer to the country’s attorney general said. Nishara Jayaratne said the cost was for services provided by various departments including the Sri Lankan navy, air force, ports authority and Marine Environment Protection Authority, among others, up until Sept. 15. The fully-loaded vessel is still in Sri Lankan waters, although the fire was completely doused ...

NAVTOR, the number one global provider of maritime e-Navigation solutions, is looking to consolidate its market leadership with a new office in Germany. The Hamburg-based division will allow NAVTOR to work closely with key local shipowners; building relationships, understanding needs and delivering products and services that enhance safety, efficiency, predictability and profitability, while simplifying operational tasks. Unlocking potential NAVTOR has grown rapidly since opening its doors in Egersund, Norway in 2011. On the back of a portfolio of innovative e-Navigation solutions – such as NavStation, the world’s first digital chart ...

Wan Hai Lines Ltd. held a ship naming ceremony for WAN HAI 321, WAN HAI 322 and WAN HAI 323 at JAPAN MARINE UNITED CORPORATION KURE SHIPYARD. Mrs. & Mr. Susowake , Managing Executive Officer of Mitsui Chemicals Corporation, Mrs. & Mr. Hayashi , Senior Manager of Overseas Transport Dept. Global Network Division of Toshiba Logistics Corp, Mrs. & Mr. Ni, Managing Director of America Chung Nam Japan K.K. officially named the ships respectively during the ceremony. Wan Hai Lines ordered a total of 8 container vessels, with a design ...

GC Rieber Shipping ASA is pleased to announce a two-year extension for the icebreaker Polar Pevek. The extension follows from end of the firm period in September 2021, making the vessel firm until September 2023. Polar Pevek is a customised heavy icebreaker and commenced her original charter in 2006 on what originally was a 15-year charter. The vessel is operating off Sakhalin Island, in far east Russia. The vessel is co-owned 50/50 with Maas Capital and operated by GC Rieber Shipping’s Russian co-owned shipmanager OOO Polarus. “We are proud to ...

Corvus Energy is pleased to announce that the company has been selected by Holland Ship Electric to supply lithium ion battery-based energy storage systems (ESS) for five new all-electric ferries being built by Holland Shipyard Group for Amsterdam’s municipal public transport provider, GVB. The ferries will operate on three of the North Sea Canal routes, replacing the current fleet built in the 1930s. The routes in the North Sea Canal are amongst the busiest routes, transporting more than 350 000 cars each year. The replacement of the ferries is in ...

The first 100 tonnes of chickpeas have christened a new $18.5 million bulk-grain handling facility at the CQ Inland Port at Yamala near Emerald, which is expected to save farmers thousands of dollars in freight costs. The bulk grain handling facility is one of many businesses at northern Australia’s first inland intermodal port, which will facilitate rail to road freight transport and warehousing storage. GrainCorp Queensland regional operations manager Brad Foster said growers would get better money for their grain at the site due to decreased supply chain costs. “The ...

Freight forwarders that are now unable to restitute empty containers to the port of Felixstowe until September 23rd say it is yet another example of appalling service from a port that describes itself as ‘The Port of Britain’. Robert Keen, Director General of the British International Freight Association (BIFA) said: “The operational performance at Felixstowe has been very challenging for some time, but over the last 24 hours the issues have escalated to a level that could be disastrous for our members’ businesses, which have already been hard hit by ...