The 64km tank column that Russia sent into Ukraine failed to take Kyiv but succeeded in ending the illusion that Europe is insulated from direct military attack. This birth of a geopolitical Europe, a moment I have best heard described as “Europe’s adulthood”, has brought the curtain down on an age of innocence that for most Western Europeans had lasted an entire lifetime. In this new context, there is one thing that matters above all else for the survival of the EU: its capacity to defend itself and stand united ...

China’s stable economic growth is of great significance to global recovery and “what happens in China, of course has huge impact on the rest of the world, and vice versa,” World Economic Forum (WEF) President Borge Brende told Xinhua in a recent interview. As the world’s second-largest economy, China has experienced rapid development in the past half-century. Nearly 800 million Chinese people have been lifted out of extreme poverty and China’s infrastructure construction has achieved remarkable results, he said, noting that the environment in China has also been greatly improved. ...

Global debt surged to a record $305 trillion in the first three months of this year as the US and China, the world’s two largest economies, continued to borrow amid slowing economic growth exacerbated by Russia’s war in Ukraine. Total debt climbed by $3.3tn in the January-March quarter, the Institute of International Finance said on Wednesday. At more than 348 per cent of global gross domestic product, debt is about 15 percentage points below its peak in the first quarter of 2021, according to the IIF. Reflecting the surge in ...

Fitch Ratings-Hong Kong/Shanghai-19 May 2022: Chinese banks’ asset-quality pressures will increase the more that public-health measures to curb the spread of Covid-19 cases disrupt economic activity, says Fitch Ratings. Pandemic control measures in several regions, including Shanghai, have curtailed economic activity, and Fitch has revised its China growth forecast for 2022 to 4.3%, from 4.8% previously. Our forecast remains subject to downside risk if containment measures fail to bring new Covid-19 outbreaks under control quickly or if the easing of current restrictions is delayed, given our assumption that China will ...

All-inclusive premium rates on the Asia-North America trade continued their weak positioning during the week to May 20 as demand for Asian goods remained muted, and healthy capacity availability was reported in loading regions. However, as lockdowns in and around Shanghai are set to be loosened in the coming weeks, sources are already reporting an uptick in booking appetite, and some suggest that rates may begin to escalate. “We’re seeing bookings start to increase, is that because slack season is closing?” a freight forwarder said, adding that shipper inquiries have ...

Clean LRs in the Middle East Gulf began the week with soft sentiment. However, good activity levels look to have slowed the downturn for the moment. TC1 75,000 Middle East Gulf / Japan, despite losing 20.71 points to WS269.29, is still returning a shade over $50,000 per day, round-trip TCE. TC5 55,000 Middle East Gulf / Japan has not dipped quite to the same extent, only 7.85 points to WS302.85 and LR1 demand west (TC8) has been relatively stable, holding around the $4.8 million mark. TC17 35,000 Middle East Gulf ...

The Intersessional Working Group (ISWG) on Greenhouse Gases (GHG) ISWG-GHG 12 marks the third substantive discussion on mid-term measures (MTM), and the shift from phase 1 to phase 2 of the workplan adopted at MEPC76. The meeting concluded that there was now consensus to price GHG emissions at IMO. This is a major development – the concept of market-based measures (MBM’s) has been on the table at IMO for more than a decade and often debated with large disagreements between member states. Dr Aly Shaw, Principal Consultant at UMAS said: ...

Zim, the world’s tenth largest container shipping line, posted the best quarterly results in its history on Wednesday. It hiked its full-year guidance and now predicts 2022 earnings will be around 20% higher than in 2021. And yet, shares of Zim — by far the largest U.S.-listed shipping company by market cap — fell as much as 8% in the hours after its earnings release. The record results from Zim (NYSE: ZIM) came on the same day as a 25% plunge in shares of Target (NYSE: TGT) and a 1,165-point ...

WHAT ARE THE POSEIDON PRINCIPLES FOR MARINE INSURANCE? The Poseidon Principles for Marine Insurance (the “Principles”) were officially launched in December 2021, initially supported by Swiss Re, Gard, Hellenic Hull Management, SCOR, Victor International and Norwegian Hull Club. In March 2022, Fidelis Insurance became the first company from the London market to join the group. In May 2022, Navium Marine and AXA XL signed up to the Principles, taking the total number of full members to nine. “The Principles establish a framework to engage with the shipping industry and support ...

Having been in the ballast water management industry for over 20 years, Etai Dagan, the founder and managing director of Filtersafe, has a unique and interesting perspective on the sector, its challenges, and future. The filter man Mr.Dagan was one of the first people to enter the ballast water conversation back in 1998 and was present at the preliminary discussions on ballast water management where he was a key consultant on filtration. “Having studied agriculture at university, I learnt about filtration vis-à-vis irrigation, which is heavily dependent on filters to ...

China’s soybean imports from Brazil in April surged from the previous month, customs data showed on Friday, with the arrival of delayed cargoes. China, the world’s top importer of soybeans, received 6.3 million tonnes of the oilseed from Brazil in April, up 120% from 2.87 million tonnes in March, according to data from the General Administration of Customs. The figures were also up from the 5.08 million tonnes China received from its top soybean supplier in the same month last year. Bad weather delayed Brazil’s soybean harvest and exports, reducing ...

Whilst many members of the OPEC+ group are struggling to achieve its allotted output quota, one country that has been able to is Iraq

Egypt expects the Suez Canal’s revenues to reach about $7 billion by the end of the current fiscal year, finance minister Mohamed Maait said on Saturday. Tourism revenues are expected to reach between $10 billion and $12 billion by then, despite the Ukrainian crisis, he added. Egypt’s fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30. The canal is the fastest shipping route between Europe and Asia and one of the Egyptian government’s main sources of foreign currency. Source: Reuters (Reporting by Ahmed Ismail, Writing by Moataz Mohamed, Editing by ...

In the week ending May-20, Ningbo Containerized Freight Index (NCFI) issued by Ningbo Shipping Exchange (NBSE) quotes 3480.6 points

From cadetship to managing one of the world’s biggest tanker companies, Lois Zabrocky has lost none of the enthusiasm that drove her to the sea as a young woman. Whether overcoming problems on board or embracing new cultures – riding camels in Pakistan is a fond memory – the president and CEO of International Seaways and BIMCO director has carried those formative experiences through a wide-ranging career. Zabrocky believes that two attributes are equally applicable whether at sea, fixing ships on the commercial side (another chapter of her career) or ...