The U.S. Gulf Coast imported the least amount of crude in nearly three decades as shipments from Iraq plummeted and congestion lingered on a critical waterway weeks after a blaze and chemical spill at the Intercontinental Terminals Co. tank farm. The Gulf Coast took just 1.4 million barrels a day of crude last week as Iraqi oil imports fell to a trickle of only 5,000 barrels a day, according to weekly preliminary government data. That’s the lowest amount since August 2015 when the OPEC producer shipped nothing its U.S. buyers. ...

The Philly Shipyard, a remnant of America’s former shipbuilding might, is once again on hollow ground with two-thirds of its staff gone, a blank order book and tens of millions of dollars in fresh losses. Philly’s fortunes are tied to the Jones Act, a 1920 law mandating that ships moving goods between U.S. ports must be American-built, -owned and -operated. The law is supposed to protect the American shipbuilding industry and thereby preserve a national security interest. The yard has delivered more than half of all Jones Act oceangoing vessels ...

Even with an ongoing trade war, China was the top destination for U.S. soybeans during the first half of the current marketing year, and the Asian country will help determine whether American beans can meet the U.S. government’s full-year export targets. Data published by the U.S. Census Bureau on Wednesday showed that the United States exported 4.58 million tonnes of soybeans in February, the largest volume for the month in three years. Some 46 percent of those shipments were to China, the largest monthly share in a year. Those February ...

Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports fell by 277,000 barrels per day (bpd) in February from the month before, official data showed on Thursday. The world’s top oil exporter shipped 6.977 million bpd in February, down from 7.254 million bpd in January, according to data from the Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI). It pumped 10.136 million bpd in February, down from 10.243 million bpd in January. Saudi crude inventories rose to 204.567 million barrels in February from 200.834 million in January, the JODI data showed. Saudi oil stocks peaked in October ...

A tight spread between international crude benchmarks Brent and West Texas Intermediate has depressed US crude export flows during the past four weeks, according to sources and data from US Customs and S&P Global Platts Analytics. However, low freight rates have created opportunities to move US crude cheaply. The US exported 2.35 million b/d for the week ending April 5 – the lowest outflow since January 25, when 1.94 million b/d was exported, according to weekly data from the US Energy Information Administration. An estimated 2.28 million b/d of crude ...

China’s iron ore futures extended losses on Thursday as market sentiment remained bearish about a rise in near-term supply after Brazil’s Vale SA said it was set to reopen an iron ore mine. The most-active iron ore contract for September delivery on the Dalian Commodity Exchange closed 0.9 percent lower at 620 yuan ($92.59) a tonne, adding to a 3 pct fall in the previous session. Vale said on Tuesday that it expects to resume operations at the Brucutu mine, which has annual capacity of 30 million tonnes, within 72 ...

The Pacific basin’s benchmark thermal coal price has continued to recover from some of its lowest levels since the summer of 2017 amid more optimistic views of the health of China’s economy. Global Coal’s Newcastle index climbed 5% for a second week to reach USD 89.58/t. The Pacific basin’s benchmark for high grade (6,000 kcal/kg) Australian coal deliveries to Asia remains 11% below where it began the year. However, it has pulled away from April’s dip below USD 80/t, its lowest level in over two years. Commonwealth Bank commodities analyst ...

Fortescue Metals Group chief executive Elizabeth Gaines says the miner is unfazed by Brazilian giant Vale’s announcement it would reopen a major iron ore mine, saying the move was unlikely to affect prices. On Wednesday, Australian iron ore stocks tumbled after Brazilian miner Vale was given the green light to restart production at its Brucutu iron ore mine following the tailings dam tragedy, which killed hundreds and sparked a significant regulatory crackdown. Speaking after the release of the miner’s March quarter results on Thursday, Ms Gaines said Vale’s guidance hadn’t ...

An alliance of countries that includes Russia is cutting oil production to end a global glut. One of the big winners: the nation’s own crude exporters. The supply cuts from the so-called OPEC+ nations, coupled with U.S. sanctions on Venezuela and Iran, have reduced the amount of medium- and heavy-grade sour crude on the market. While Russia is part of the output cuts effort, exports of its medium-sour Urals crude — the country’s biggest export grade — are set to soar this month to an almost two-year high. “The apparent ...

The upward trend in Asian liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices reversed this week as ample offers of cargoes saturated a market where demand was limited. After rising for two weeks to reach over $6.00 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) in the second week of April, the June price for delivery of LNG into northeast Asia dropped into $5.00 territory, sources said. The average June price was estimated at $5.40 per mmBtu on Thursday as offers of supply met with sluggish demand and a drop in European gas prices. Reflecting ...

China’s central bank, which has been pumping funds into the nation’s fragile economy over recent months, has suggested it will not flood the market with excessive liquidity, in a quarterly monetary policy document released this week. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) summarised its first quarter monetary policy committee meeting, during which the PBOC said it would block the “general valve” of money supply, showing a preference for restraint and suggesting major moves towards easing are unlikely. The PBOC said China’s economic situation was healthy, in a much more upbeat ...

The United States won a World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling on Thursday against China’s use of tariff-rate quotas for imported rice, wheat and corn, which it successfully argued limited market access for U.S. grain exports. The case, lodged by the Obama administration in late 2016, marked the second U.S. victory in as many months. It came amid U.S.-China trade talks and on the heels of Washington clinching a WTO ruling on China’s price support for grains in March. A WTO dispute panel ruled on Thursday that under the terms of ...

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) co-hosted an international symposium on 9 April. Held under the theme: The World Trading System at a Crossroad and WTO Reform for a Sustainable World Economy, the symposium took place in Tokyo and focused on how the global trade system could be reformed to be fit-for-purpose in the 21st century. The symposium drew approximately 150 participants representing businesses, government, academia and others and featured keynote speeches by Akimasa Ishikawa, Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, and ...

In the context of the efforts for the further development of Piraeus as an international shipping center for the supply of high level services to shipping the “Piraeus Association for Maritime Arbitration” (PAMA) was established in 2005 by private initiative. Founding members of the PAMA are retired Supreme Court judges, university professors, bankers, maritime lawyers and other personalities who have been involved with various aspects of shipping. Alternative dispute resolution procedures for maritime disputes are reliable, internationally recognized, producing high quality results at lower cost and within a shorter time ...

Conference “RS Rules for ice class ships. Changes and prospects for further development” organized by Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RS, the Register) took place at the RS Head Office. Sergey Kulikov, RS Deputy Director General, in his welcome speech, highlighted that “the ice fleet is currently of key value in solving such strategic tasks for the national economy as the development of offshore projects in the Arctic and navigation along the Northern Sea Route”. He also pointed out that the Conference was organized by RS to get feedback, by ...