High transoceanic freight prices caused sugar consumers around the world to pause their buying and use stocks, leading to a temporary glut of the sweetener in the main export port of Santos, Brazil, that drove down price differentials. According to BP Bunge Bioenergia, the sugar and ethanol venture owned by BP Plc and Bunge Ltd, Brazilian sugar was sold at times at a discount to New York raw sugar futures in July, instead of the conventional premium over futures, as many sugar importers left the market. “The fact is that ...

Iron ore futures closed lower on Wednesday in daytime trading at the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE). The most active iron ore contract for January 2022 delivery dipped 6.5 yuan (about 1.01 U.S. dollars) to close at 941 yuan per tonne. On Wednesday, the total trading volume of 11 listed iron ore futures contracts on the exchange was 625,571 lots, with a turnover of 61.26 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

Euro zone retail sales rose roughly in line with expectations in June though less steeply than in May, when consumers flocked back to shops after coronavirus restrictions were eased. The European Union’s statistics office Eurostat said on Wednesday that retail sales in the 19 countries sharing the euro rose 1.5% month-on-month in June and were 5.0% higher than a year earlier. Economists polled by Reuters had expected a 1.7% monthly rise and forecast a 4.5% year-on-year increase. The monthly increase was not uniform. Sales rose steepest in Ireland, Germany and ...

Growth in China’s services sector accelerated in July, a private survey showed on Wednesday, although the spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant across the country threatens to undercut the recovery in the world’s second-biggest economy. The Caixin/Markit services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI)rose to 54.9 in July, the highest since May and up from 50.3 the previous month. The 50-point mark separates growth from contraction on a monthly basis. The better readings in the private survey, which focuses more on smaller firms in coastal regions, stood in contrast with findings in ...

The International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) is currently developing its IMCA Accredited Diving System Inspector (ADSI) scheme which will introduce an industry-recognised professional accreditation for this important group of skilled workers. ADSIs will be accredited to conduct IMCA Diving Equipment Systems Inspection Guidance Note (DESIGN) audits. As one of the final stages in development of the scheme IMCA is now asking for known, respected and experienced DESIGN auditors to be put forward for early ADSI certification so they can act as field training supervisors when the scheme is launched during ...

Orange maritime customers will now be able to accelerate their digital transformation with higher-capacity satellite connectivity services provided jointly by SES Networks and Orange. With this innovative agreement, Orange will integrate its own global infrastructure with the global network coverage powered by SES Networks’ Skala Global Platform. Together it will enable Orange maritime customers to cost-effectively scale up their bandwidth with seamless, ubiquitous and global services. This will ensure they can implement new technologies onboard that take advantage of IoT and AI, as well as edge and cloud applications. The ...

Iridium Communications Inc. announced that Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) has approved regulatory amendments necessary to allow for Japanese adoption of Iridium Certus® broadband, Iridium Controller–Pilot Data Link Communications (CPDLC) and other aeronautical services for aviation and Iridium’s Global Maritime Distress and Safety System service (GMDSS). Over the past several years, Iridium has been working on regulatory amendments with the MIC to incorporate these services into the Japanese regulatory framework, while many other Iridium services have long been approved. Following all required processes of the regulatory amendments, ...

Campbell Johnston Clark (CJC) has agreed to acquire CTRL Marine Solutions from Shipowners’ Mutual Protection Ltd. The acquisition underlines the importance of P&I work to CJC, whilst further enhancing the firm’s position at the forefront of providing bespoke legal and technical services to P&I Clubs and their members. As one of the first companies of its kind, CTRL Marine Solutions Ltd has worked with Shipowners’ Club as an in-house legal resource accepting instructions from Members on shipping and personal injury claims. Following the acquisition, CTRL will be led by current ...

Every year the club sees several navigation related incidents which have a potential to become high value claims and impact safety of life and property and damage to environment and reputation. These incidents are not limited to any specific ship-type and can have a catastrophic ramification. Standard club promotes and encourages members to develop a robust safety culture which prioritizes safe navigation by having clear procedures, purposeful training and a reliable assessment process irrespective of the ship type. AMSA has announced a Focused Inspection Campaign (FIC) on safety of navigation. ...

The Ministry of Transport revealed that China witnessed a big increase in its freight output in the 6 months of 2021 as the country aims for augmenting shipping space and cargo supply. Sun Wenjian, a spokesperson of the ministry stated that in the first half of this year, China’s ports traded 7.64 billion tons of freight, increasing 13.2 percent annually, and an upsurge of 13.9 percent from the same period in 2019. Sun also added that the country’s container output at ports increased 15 percent annually to 140 million twenty-foot ...

One year after the huge explosions that destroyed the Port of Beirut, a host of international companies are bidding to reconstruct it, in the light of Lebanon’s strategic location and potential offshore oil and gas resources, analysts told Xinhua. Lebanon’s potential oil and gas resources have led to increased activities at the Port of Beirut, said Elie Zakhour, chairman of Beirut’s international chamber of shipping. “Oil and gas companies, for instance, need to buy equipment for exploration activities through the Port of Beirut since we don’t have any of them ...

Brokerage firm Credit Suisse has upgraded Adani Ports to ‘outperform’ from ‘neutral’, raising its target price to Rs 800 from the previous target of Rs 710, ahead of the company’s first quarter results on Tuesday. CS has upgraded the stock based on its strong growth outlook (22 percent CAGR till FY25E) and its likely participation in the positive economic growth cyclicality, which was a positive surprise. The company has a strong FY25E guidance and reasonable valuations (12 times the forward estimations of EY/EBITDA for FY23, Credit Suisse said. The company ...

Norway’s pipeline gas exports to continental Europe and the UK jumped in July to the highest level since March given a period of relatively light planned maintenance shutdowns, an analysis of S&P Global Platts Analytics data showed Aug. 3. Norwegian deliveries totaled 9.14 Bcm in July, up 9% year on year and by 22% month on month, and the highest volume since the 9.3 Bcm supplied in March. NCS operators carried out relatively light planned maintenance work for the month following a heavy schedule in May and June, allowing exports ...

Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. has sold its first blue ammonia cargo to Japan’s Itochu to be used in fertilizer production as the UAE’s biggest energy company bolsters its clean energy push and enhances its ties with one of its top customers. Fertiglobe, a 58:42 partnership between Dutch chemicals company OCI and ADNOC, will produce blue ammonia at its Fertil plant in the Ruwais Industrial Complex in Abu Dhabi for delivery to ADNOC’s customers in Japan, ADNOC said in an Aug. 3 statement. “The shipments, which were sold at an ...

Financial firms including British insurer Prudential, lenders Citi and HSBC and BlackRock Real Assets are devising plans to speed the closure of Asia’s coal-fired power plants in order to lower the biggest source of carbon emissions, five people with knowledge of the initiative said. The novel proposal, which is being driven by the Asian Development Bank, offers a potentially workable model and early talks with Asian governments and multilateral banks are promising, the sources told Reuters. The group plans to create public-private partnerships to buy out the plants and wind ...