European stocks retreated from all-time highs on Tuesday, with travel, retail and technology shares among the top losers after worries about rising U.S. inflation knocked back U.S. indexes. The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX fell 1.9% and was on course for its biggest percentage decline in three weeks. The main bourses in Frankfurt .DAX , Paris .FCHI and London .FTSE all lost close to 2%. Global sentiment soured after investors dumped Wall Street’s market-leading growth stocks on Monday ahead of the latest reading on U.S. consumer prices, which many fear ...

Resource-oriented currencies including the Canadian dollar and the Aussie consolidated gains on Tuesday, as a rally in commodity prices boosted their appeal, while the greenback held near multi-month lows on growing concerns about price pressures. Soaring commodity prices have sent the cost of raw materials from copper to iron ore and lumber to record highs, raising concerns that inflation may not be as transitory as some believe with U.S. breakeven rates scaling multi-year peaks. The Australian dollar AUD=D3 steadied at $0.7827, hovering just below a two-month high hit on Monday. ...

The release of China’s consumption market potential and its wider opening-up will help boost the development of the world economy, experts said at the ongoing China International Consumer Products Expo. China is expected to become the world’s largest goods consumption market during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), and the world’s biggest services trader by 2035, said Chi Fulin, head of the Hainan-based China Institute for Reform and Development, at an expo forum. China’s rate of contribution to global economic growth is likely to be maintained within a range of ...

Beijing suffered some of the worst sandstorms in a decade in March, caused by a combination of drought, low snow covers and high temperatures, another demonstration of the effects that climate change is already having and its potential to severely impact lives and livelihoods. The IPCC states that the world will need to curb its carbon emissions by 41 to 58% in 2030, compared to 2010 levels, in order for limited or no overshoot of a 1.5C global temperature rise. In fact, emissions have increased by about 15% since 2010. ...

Claims that the “Asian century” has arrived or is set to begin frequently appear in the media and public fora. For example, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated during the 2018 Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank conference: “Now the continent finds itself at the centre of global economic activity…It has become the main growth engine of the world. In fact, we are now living through what many have termed the Asian century.” Such proclamations are founded on the increasing economic significance of the region. Stunning catch-up The growth performance of Asian ...

Traders provisionally booked at least six tankers to ship gasoline from Europe to U.S. destinations following a cyber attack that shut the United States’ top fuel pipeline network, Refinitiv Eikon data showed on Monday. The attack forced the Colonial Pipeline to shut down its entire system on Friday, stoking expectations of gasoline shortages along the U.S. East Coast. Some smaller lines were restarted Sunday, but Colonial has given no timeline for the restart of its main pipelines. Two European gasoline traders said the market was taking a cautious approach to ...

Very Large Gas Carrier, or VLGC, rates are set to rally further in the near term, as more vessels are diverted to the US amid an active May-lifting program, trade and shipping sources told S&P Global Platts May 10. Dry docking of vessels since fourth-quarter 2020 are also slated to last through second-quarter this year, limiting available LPG fleet till at least end-June, they said. “We are also starting to see the effect of the dry docking and also quite a few vessels are heading to the US rather than ...

The Baltic exchange’s main sea freight index rose on Monday, buoyed by an uptick in rates for all vessel segments. The Baltic dry index .BADI , which tracks rates for capesize, panamax and supramax vessels ferrying dry bulk commodities, rose by 57 points, or nearly 1.8%, to 3,240. The capesize index .BACI increased 103 points, or roughly 2.1%, to 5,109. Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes of coal and steel-making ingredient iron ore, increased by $856 to $42,370. China’s ferrous prices took off on Monday, with ...

Shipping companies must ensure they have robust data collection and analysis processes in place, or risk being unable to meet internal and regulatory decarbonisation targets in time – such are the findings of a recent industry poll posed by GreenSteam, developers of vessel performance optimisation solutions for a sustainable shipping sector. The introduction of the International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) greenhouse gas (GHG) strategy calls for a 70% reduction in carbon intensity and a 50% decrease in total annual emissions from international shipping by 2050 compared with 2008 levels. This has ...

Depending on your viewpoint, China’s imports of major commodities in April were either a sign of the ongoing strength as the world’s second-largest economy continues its post-pandemic recovery – or early evidence of moderating demand. It all comes down to what basis of comparison is selected: the April figures look soft when compared with March, but solid when compared to April 2020, and resilient when looking at the first four months of this year versus the same period last year. Crude oil imports illustrate the dilemma of trying to assess ...

StormGeo, a global leader in weather intelligence software and decision support services, is announcing that Alfa Laval, a world leader in heat transfer, centrifugal separation and fluid handling – will acquire StormGeo to accelerate their digital services offering and to add an important tool to the decarbonizing tool box offering. Alfa Laval is headquartered in Lund, Sweden and has a 138-year history of growth and visionary innovation, with 16,700 employees globally. The company serves the Food & Water, Energy and Marine industries. It is listed on the Swedish stock exchange. ...

The ongoing second wave of the deadly coronavirus pandemic in India is expected to snowball into a major disruptor for the shipping and logistics industry as several ports globally are shunning ships which have called at any location along the South Asian coastline. Bunkering operations could also come in the ambit of this catastrophic wave that has engulfed India, although no major disruptions have been noted yet as demand has been lackluster, bunker industry sources said. The impact on global shipping logistics from India’s isolation could become a very significant ...

During the current consolidated fiscal year, the COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on the global economy, causing a year on year decline in cargo volumes across the businesses in the first quarter. From the second quarter, a stronger than expected demand recovery occurred, and supported by robust cargo volumes particularly in the Liner Trade, Air Cargo Transportation and Logistics segments, strong results were achieved. In the container shipping division, robust shipping demand continued following increased demand for medical supplies and consumer goods in relation to stay at home demand. ...

South Korea’s antitrust watchdog has embarked on a process of taking punitive actions against sea shipping companies for price rigging. According to multiple industry sources on Monday, the Fair Trade Commission has recently notified major local shippers including Korea’s sea flag carrier HMM Co., Korea Marine Transport Co., and Sinokor Merchant Marine Co. about the findings about its investigation into the companies’ possible illegal price fixing. The FTC commenced the investigation three years ago immediately after timber importers in Korea raised suspicion with the watchdog over shipping price collusion, saying ...

China’s ferrous prices took off on Monday, with benchmark iron ore and steel futures hitting all-time highs amid robust demand and supply concerns, as expectations of rising inflation rates also fuelled speculative buying. Capacity utilisation rates of blast furnaces at 247 steel mills across China jumped to 90.59% last week, the highest since early March, data from Mysteel consultancy showed. The most active iron ore futures contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange, for September delivery, soared 10% to a record high of 1,326 yuan ($206.30) per tonne. On the Singapore ...