Continuing growth in cargo volumes helped lift Port of Tauranga’s first half year group net profit by 4 per cent to $49 million. Total trade through New Zealand’s largest port increased 8.8 per cent to nudge 13.6 million tonnes in the six months to December 31. The listed company declared an interim dividend of 6c a share, up 5.3 per cent on the previous period’s dividend. Chief executive Mark Cairns said the company was on track to deliver a strong result for the full financial year and earnings were expected ...

Chinese steel and iron ore prices edged up in early trade on Monday, with rebar rising for the first time in five sessions, buoyed by some restocking demand and optimism over U.S.-Sino trade talks. The most-active construction steel rebar contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange was up 0.1 percent at 3,639 yuan ($538.68) a tonne by 0215 GMT. Hot rolled coil rose 0.6 percent to 3,590 yuan. “There should be some (restocking going on). Steel traders and users usually do this restocking either before or after the holidays,” said Richard ...

Portfolio managers’ overall bullish position is up nearly 100 million barrels over the past nine weeks. But, with two monthly outlooks released so far this year, EIA has been keeping its WTI and Brent spot forecasts at about the same level, $54.50 and $60.75 respectively. Hardly an exhaustive list here, but I do see mixed signals for the oil market. Here are 4 reasons to be bullish on oil. Rising Demand. Just this past week, EIA forecast that global oil demand will rise another 1.5 million b/d this year and ...

British trade minister Liam Fox said on Monday that Japan was keen to agree a post-Brexit trade deal and believed it could be done “quite quickly”. The Financial Times earlier reported Japan had reacted with dismay to a letter from Fox and foreign minister Jeremy Hunt encouraging it to agree a quick trade deal with Britain as it was interpreted as an accusation of foot-dragging. “My Japanese counterparts are very keen to do (a deal) because they think such an agreement could be concluded quite quickly,” Fox said when asked ...

Recent data point to a weakening euro zone economy, the European Central Bank’s Olli Rehn told a German newspaper, adding that interest rates would remain at the current level until monetary policy goals have been met. The ECB has said it aims to keep interest rates at current record lows at least through the summer but its longstanding rate guidance is increasingly out of sync with market expectations due to an economic slowdown. “Yes, the most recent data point to a weakening of the economy,” Rehn, the Finnish central bank ...

The slowdown of the European economy is “significant” and the European Central Bank could change its interest-rates guidance if it becomes clear the situation isn’t temporary, Governing Council member Francois Villeroy de Galhau said. The extent of the weakness at the end of 2018 has taken policy makers by surprise, with Italy entering recession and Germany narrowly avoiding the same fate. The ECB has so far stuck to its guidance that it will keep borrowing costs at record lows at least through the summer, indicating hikes could come after that. ...

Complimentary to the introduction of four (4) sailings per week between Zeebrugge and Göteborg – since January 2018 – we are pleased to inform you about the next step in our strategy in order to upgrade the service level towards our customers, offering frequent and reliable ferry crossings. As from 24 February 2019 onwards, CLdN ro-ro will deploy a larger vessel on the Göteborg trade. By introducing M/V CATHERINE, one of our CONRO class vessels, which are extremely suitable to accommodate trailers and containers, the total capacity on the trade ...

WISTA Cyprus announces their 3rd annual shipping forum. The forum’s theme for 2019 is “CrewingCyprus 2019” and it will be held on 20th of March, 2019, at Columbia Plaza in Limassol, offering free admission to all participants. CrewingCyprus 2019, will have an exclusive focus on crewing matters and is expected to attract delegates from the local and international industry, who wish to become informed and updated, on various aspects of offshore life. As noted by WISTA Cyprus Board and Forum organising committee: “CrewingCyprus is intended to enlighten participants who work ...

Seaports in Ukraine are working to grab an even larger share of containerized cargo moving to the European Union from Asia by further developing domestic container terminals and increasing the quality of services provided to shippers. According to data from the Administration of the Ukrainian Seaports (AMPU), Ukrainian ports saw cargo traffic surge 19 percent year over year to 846,485 TEU in 2018, with imports rising 22 percent and exports up 13 percent. Odesa continued to be the most utilized port in the country, handling 70.7 percent of all containerized ...

With developers of about 10 projects racing to build deepwater crude export terminals off Texas and Louisiana, Enbridge only sees enough demand for one of them in the late 2021-early 2022 timeframe, the company said in its fourth-quarter 2018 earnings call. Enbridge, Kinder Morgan and Oiltanking have proposed the Texas Colt Offshore Loading Terminal offshore Freeport, Texas. It would be capable of loading VLCCs directly, something only the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port can currently do. The joint venture filed an application with the US Maritime Administration in January, a process ...

PSA-Sical Terminals Ltd, one of the Indian terminal operating units of global port operator PSA International Pte Ltd, is in dire straits after a newly opened terminal at Central government-owned V O Chidambaranar Port Trust (VOCPT) in Tamil Nadu’s Thoothukodi district grabbed much of its business in January. The move triggered a run-in with the landlord port authority. PSA-Sical is 62.5 per cent owned by PSA International, a unit of Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd, the sovereign wealth fund of Singapore. The terminal has been roiled by tariff issues for many ...

NEW BUILDING: With shipyards in the Far East returning from the Lunar New Year holidays there are a small number of new orders to report.

With U.S. sanctions threatening Iran’s main port of Bandar Abbas, the Iranian government is planning to promote the Chabahar port being developed by India in a major conference on February 26, highlighting the potential of the Indian Ocean port beyond India-Afghan trade alone. India is sending an official delegation to the event led by the Shipping Ministry, where about 200 guests from 35 countries have been invited, officials said. The event will also bring into focus a tightrope India must walk, with the U.S. tensions with Iran on one side, ...

MV Beijing Bridge under its AGI Service made the maiden call at the Port of Colombo’s Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) controlled Jaya Container Terminal (JCT) on last week. In order to mark the vessel’s maiden call at the Port a plaque exchange was also held between SLPA Additional Managing Director Upali De Zoysa and MV Beijing Bridge Captain Rodie Barcoma. Welcoming MV Beijing Bridge at Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA), Upali De Zoysa stated that Sri Lanka Ports Authority being the land lord and the terminal operator is jointly ...

The Lower 48 E&P sector is under pressure from investors demanding greater capital discipline, positive free cash flow and increasing returns. There’s a tug-of-war between value and volume, and value has emerged as the winner. The Lower 48’s independents, who traditionally pursued growth at all costs, must now rein in their impulses and focus on delivering returns to their shareholders. How does this affect their 2019 spending plans, and how do they manage volatile oil prices? Roy Martin, from WoodMac’s corporate analysis team, said: “As US independents release their budgets ...