Export Products News

Istanbul-based tanker operator Palmali has become the top shipper for Ukraine's Black Sea-borne sunflower oil exports, one of the country's key export products, and plans to expand further, its chairman Mubariz Mansimov said.Azeri-born Mansimov said Palmali was the most active operator in the increasingly dangerous Black Sea, and plans to expand its presence in Ukraine by placing an order for 10 more cargo carriers and starting trading operations early next year. Since pulling out of the U.N.-brokered deal that guaranteed safe shipment of Ukrainian food products in July…

Canadian National Railway (CN) said it plans to invest more than $245 million in Saskatchewan in 2019 to expand and strengthen the company’s rail network across the province.“Following a record capital program in 2018, CN brought on 25% more qualified train conductors in Western Canada and added over 10% more active high horse power locomotives to its network. This year, CN is investing $35M more than last year to bring greater capacity to CN’s mainline to benefit all commodities,” said Doug Ryhorchuk, vice-president of CN’s Western Region.The Saskatchewan investments are part of CN’s 2019 record $3.9 billion capital investment focused on enabling growth from all commodity segments…

With strong increases in iron ore and other cargo, total tonnage shipped via the St. Lawrence Seaway is up 20 percent over last year. The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation reports that cargo shipments from March 20 to June 30 totaled more than 12 million metric tons – up two million metric tons over the same period in 2016. “St. Lawrence Seaway shipping is a bellwether for the health of the overall U.S. and Canadian economies and reflects strong demand for raw materials to support the automotive…

A new lease of life has been breathed into the ailing Medium Range (MR) tanker market in Asia. The MR market has been mired in a slump in recent months, with TC11 rates sinking to a multi-year low of $240,000 in April on the back of lower product exports from China and South Korea. The lumpsum rate for TC11 has since rebounded by $50,000 to $290,000 due an influx of activity in North Asia. Overall Chinese product exports touched a three-month low at 3.5 mmt in April, down by 22.6 percent m-o-m and 4.9 percent y-o-y which contributed significantly to the previous decline in MR rates.

Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA has delayed and canceled crude deliveries to commercial partners in recent months, according to documents seen by Reuters, a further sign of the steady production decline of the country's top export. From October through January, PDVSA canceled or delayed delivery of almost 7 million barrels of crude due to cargoes being rescheduled or skipped, often because it did not have enough oil available, according to internal company documents seen by Reuters. Most pending cargoes were supposed to be delivered to regular buyers including U.S. Phillips 66 and Thai TIPCO Asphalt. Other shipments were canceled even before being assigned to specific customers.

Terminal Portuario Guayaquil (TPG), port operated by SAAM since 2006, began one of its most important projects in recent years: the extension of its dock by 120 meters. The works will imply increasing the dock from its current 360 meters to 480 meters, project that should be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2017. "The beginning of these extension works is a milestone for TPG. This, together with other initiatives, will allow us to continue positioning the terminal as an efficient alternative in the export of products…

The Canaveral Port Authority welcomes the start of StreamLine’s Blue Stream weekly liner service at its new Canaveral Cargo Terminal, which GT USA manages and operates. The service adds Port Canaveral to this valued trade route that includes Central America, Europe and the Caribbean. The first call at Canaveral is scheduled for January 31, 2016 with the arrival of the M/V Norderoog. StreamLines N.V. part of the Seatrade Group, is a container line providing refrigerated and dry container service specializing in fresh produce and perishables.

U.S. lawmakers gave a preview on Thursday of a looming fight next year on lifting the ban on crude exports with supporters saying it would sustain the drilling boom and others questioning its impacts on industry and fuel prices. In a House of Representatives hearing on the ban, Texas Republican Joe Barton said exporting oil would boost the economy, lower gas prices, and help give allies alternative oil supplies to Russia. By some measures the United States is the world's top oil producer and Barton said the country should use that power. "When you're number one, you use that status," said Barton, who introduced a short, 1.5 page bill this week to lift the ban Congress passed in 1975 after the Arab oil embargo. The U.S.

Total cargo shipments on the St. Lawrence Seaway have now surpassed 2013 levels by 5 percent due to strong North American import/export activity. According to the St. Lawrence Seaway, total cargo tonnage from March 25 to September 30 reached 24.4 million metric tons. Stephen Brooks, President of the Chamber of Marine Commerce, said, “September was another strong month for the St. Lawrence Seaway as marine shipping helped U.S. companies export products and import much-needed materials. Many people don’t realize that ships are regularly carrying a huge amount of trade between Canada and the U.S.

Manager and operator of Khalifa Port Container Terminal, Abu Dhabi Terminals (ADT), says it has signed a contract with Borouge, a leading provider of plastics materials, to design, construct and operate a state-of-the-art packaging facility for Borouge’s export products at Khalifa Port. The contract was signed by Abdulaziz Alhajri, CEO of Abu Dhabi Polymers Company (Borouge), and Martijn Van De Linde, CEO of ADT, during a ceremony that took place at Borouge’s headquarters in Abu Dhabi. The signing ceremony was attended by Wim Roels, CEO of Borouge’s Marketing & Sales Company, and senior management officials from Borouge and ADT. Khalifa Port explains that it is the primary UAE gateway for Borouge’s products to their customers around the world.

Area companies can learn how to reduce costs and increase the efficiency of their global supply chain at a seminar on Foreign-Trade Zones on May 30 at Firestone Country Club in Akron. Hosted by the Northeast Ohio Trade and Economic Consortium (NEOTEC) and the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority in conjunction with the Greater Akron Chamber, the half-day seminar will bring together nationally renowned FTZ experts to discuss the program’s benefits and how it helps companies become more globally competitive. Presenters include Dan Griswold, president of the National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones (NAFTZ) in Washington, D.C.; Trey Boring, a NAFTZ board member and senior vice president of IMS Worldwide, Inc.

The Port of Hamburg receives the first of a total of eight 13,380-TEU COSCO newbuildings at HHLA’s Container Terminal Tollerort. Delivered at the end of February, the completed containership Cosco Belgium  will berth in Hamburg on April 11. Operating under the Hong Kong flag, this ULCC is 366 meters long, 51 meters wide and when fully loaded has a draft of 15.5 meters. She is the first of altogether eight 13,380 TEU (20-feet standard container) vessels ordered by Cosco from the Chinese NACKS shipyard in April 2008.

Partnership Creates Regional Foreign-Trade Zone Advantage. The Northeast Ohio Trade & Economic Consortium (NEOTEC) has entered into an agreement with the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority for the administration of Foreign-Trade Zone (FTZ) 40. The Port Authority is grantee of FTZ 40, which includes 10 sites totaling more than 5,600 acres in Cuyahoga, Lorain and Ashtabula counties. NEOTEC, a nonprofit regional economic development organization located in Kent, is grantee of FTZ 181, with 27 sites in 8 counties throughout Northeast Ohio. The agreement brings the combined acreage of both zones to more than 11,000. In addition to streamlining zone administrative duties…

“The inland waterways navigation system is the most important transportation asset in the United States and is vital to the economic well-being of this country. From the inception of this country, the Federal government has played a critical role in ensuring that the inland navigation system, including the Mississippi River, remains open to transport products such as grain, coal, steel, petroleum and aggregate materials. We urgently call on the Federal government today to take all necessary steps to provide funding for this national transportation asset and to allow the Lower Mississippi River to remain fully open for commerce. This year, we have seen unprecedented levels of high water on the Mississippi River carrying millions of tons of silt and debris to the mouth of the River.

STX Europe has purchased Machine Support’s ShaftDesigner software for the STX Finland yards in Turku and Rauma. This order is the result of an extensive technical and commercial investigation. The yard bought alignment and vibration calculations analyses from other contracting parties, but decided that they want to do these calculations internally. In ShaftDesigner the investigators found a modern and sophisticated software that is capable of calculating shaft line alignment as well as all types of vibration. The software also take into account the entire shaft line and components.

The Port of Greater Baton Rouge announced a new weekly short-sea shipping service for containers via barge to the Port of New Orleans. This regular service is scheduled weekly to facilitate demand from local industry. Osprey Line operates the container terminal at the Baton Rouge port’s Inland Rivers Marine Terminal and launched the first weekly shipment Friday, January 9, 2004 to the Napoleon Street Wharf Container Terminal in New Orleans. Osprey Line President Rick Couch said, “With this weekly container-on-barge shipping schedule, local companies who import and export products to and from the Port of New Orleans can take advantage of lower transportation costs. Most products can be moved by container-on-barge.

Three-quarters of Finnish export traffic was halted on Monday by a stevedores strike after the failure of weekend talks between between employer and employee representatives. Around 3,500 stevedores are taking part, affecting foreign trade worth around $187.7 million per day, said the Confederation of Finnish Industry and Employers (TT). Nokia Oyj Abp, Finland's single largest exporter and the world's largest mobile phone manufacturer, said its operations would not, for the time being, be affected as most of its export products were delivered by air. But the timber industry, which is also a significant exporter and is heavily dependent on ports, voiced concern.

According to VNA, Vietnam's Ministry of Trade estimates that the shipbuilding industry can earn $1.7b annually from ship exports by 2010. The Vietnam Ship Building Corporation this year received a $750m loan via the issue of government bonds in the international market. Thanks to this capital, the corporation expects to export products worth $500m annually from 2007. To date, it has signed export contracts valued at about $1.5b through 2009. Source: VNA