Northern China News

The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, rose to its highest level since early January on Thursday, supported by stronger rates across all vessel segments.The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax shipping vessels, rose 46 points, or about 4.2%, to 1,145, its highest since Jan.

At least two vessels carrying Australian coal have arrived in China for the first time since an unofficial ban on imports was introduced more than two years ago, and several more are on the way, shiptracking data showed. The cargoes are being closely monitored by coal traders as they are keen to see how smooth Chinese customs procedures will be.China last month, in a partial easing of the import ban, granted permission to just four central-government owned firms to bring in Australian coal. Tiger East, a dry bulk vessel loading some 73,300 tonnes of Australian thermal coal from Queensland, is discharging at the southern Chinese city of Taishan…

Expanding to strengthen support in Asia, International Registries, Inc. and its affiliates (IRI) opened offices in Vancouver, British Columbia and Qingdao, China today. This is the first Canadian office of IRI and the 11th office in Asia. The opening of the Vancouver office expands on the historical and powerful link between Vancouver and China, while Qingdao opens to facilitate inspections and client services in Northern China. Both offices will serve Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) corporate and maritime clients. Annie Ng, Head of Asia and Managing Director, Vancouver Office will remain Head of Asia and reposition to lead from Vancouver.“Vancouver is an important cultural and trading link between North America and Asia…

The crew of bulk carrier Anastasia has debarked in Japan after six months stuck at anchorage off the coast of northern China.The vessel, its coal cargo and mostly Indian crew had been at a standstill since September amid the ongoing COVID-19 crew change crisis and a trade spat including a Chinese ban on Australian coal imports. Anastasia's operator Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), which maintains the Panamanian-flagged vessel and organizes its crew, said the ship's charterer and subcharterer were caught in the resulting political and trade uncertainty as dozens of bulkers were left idled off the Chinese coast for months.Making the problem worse is an international crew change crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic that has left hundreds of thousands of seafarers trapped at sea.

The bulk carrier Anastasia, stuck off the coast of China with crew change request unheeded since mid-2020, has become a rallying point for MSC in urging governments to work together to find a solution.MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company is calling for an urgent crew change solution for the bulk carrier Anastasia, which is stuck off the coast of northern China, and is among dozens of ships in a waiting line near the port of Caofeidian.According to the company, MSC has repeatedly requested that the seafarers onboard should be relieved to return home to their families.

Some coal imported into China had failed to meet environmental standards, a foreign ministry spokesman said on Wednesday in response to reports of dozens of shipments of Australian coal stalled in Chinese ports."In recent years Chinese customs have conducted risk monitoring assessments on the safety and quality of imported coal, and we found that many coal imports have failed to meet environmental standards," foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said when asked about the Australian…

China’s iron ore imports slipped 1.7% in October from a month earlier, but still hovered well above 100 million tonnes, official customs data showed on Saturday, propped up by firm demand at Chinese mills and shipments from major miners.The world’s top iron ore consumer imported 106.74 million tonnes of the steelmaking ingredient in October, 14.9% more than in October 2019, but still below the 108.55 million tonnes brought in during September, according to data from the General Administration of Customs.For the first 10 months of 2020…

French oil and gas major Total said Thursday it had delivered its first shipment of carbon-neutral liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the Chinese National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC).Total explained that the carbon footprint of the LNG shipment was offset with VCS (Verified Carbon Standards) emissions certificates financing two projects.The two projects are Hebei Guyuan Wind Power Project, which aims to reduce emissions from coal-based power generation in northern China, and Kariba REDD+ Forest Protection Project…

Australia is investigating media reports that China has stopped taking its coal shipments, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Tuesday, adding that such import quotas to support China's market were "not uncommon".Trade industry reports late last week suggested that some Chinese ports had been told not to accept Australian thermal and metallurgical coal, and that Australian shipments were being sold along to other markets at the last minute.China's imports of coal had been expected to slow in the second half…

Construction of what has been described as the world's largest civilian/NGO hospital ship - the Global Mercy - is making progress and is nearing completion in China.Mercy Ships, an NGO which ordered the ship to deliver free healthcare services to those with little access in the developing world, and Stena RoRo, which leads the construction of the Global Mercy, on Tuesday shared a timelapse video of the construction along with the photos of the vessel in the shipyard in China."The Global Mercy will be a true modern marvel—a fully custom-built hospital ship with customized instruments…

Northern China  Port of Tianjin has taken delivery of Azimuth Stern Drive (ASD) Tug Jin Gang Lun 33 from the Shanghai Harbour Fuxing Shipping Service Company shipyard.The ASD 35/50 Tug is joining the Port’s tugboat fleet and serves the main roles of harbour towing, berthing and unberthing visiting vessels.Following Jin Gang Lun 31 and Jin Gang Lun 32 which were delivered to Tianjin Port early this year, Jin Gang Lun 33 is also custom designed in Canada by the Vancouver based naval architects Robert Allan Ltd. The vessel will obtain CCS Notation of I (intelligent)-ship with sub-notation of “M” – intelligent machinery space; “N” – intelligent navigation…

Taiwanese ocean carrier TS Lines (TSL)  has announced the launch of the Pan Asia 1(PA1) Service that provides weekly connectively between China and Southeast Asia.The PA1 service offers one of the most comprehensive Northern China market coverage comprising seven China main ports as well as Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia, said a press release.The PA1 service commenced sailing from Shanghai on 30th , August with the following port rotation: Shanghai -Dalian – Xingang – Qingdao – Ningbo – Xiamen – Nansha – Singapore – Port Kelang- Penang – Port Kelang – Singapore – Hong Kong – Shanghai.Last month, TSL deployed CM3, JMV, IA3, IA8 and…

China's coal imports dropped sharply in August from the month before, customs data showed on Friday, after cooler weather crimped demand from utilities and as a typhoon disrupted supply.Total arrivals last month fell 12 percent from August to the lowest since May at 25.14 million tonnes, data from the General Administration of Customs showed.

China's Ministry of Transport said on Friday it is soliciting feedback from oil companies, shipowners' and port associations, and marine authorities for a plan to use liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a marine bunker fuel.China will expedite the planning and siting of key berths for LNG tankers in the Bohai Bay area of northern China, as well as along its main rivers, the ministry said.The ministry has asked companies and agencies to give feedback by Aug.

CNOOC will start building six liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage tanks by the end of the year as part of a project to expand its Tianjin LNG terminal to help meet surging demand from households in northern China, CNOOC Gas and Power Group said in statement on Wednesday night.The project, including six tanks each with 220,000 cubic meters of storage capacity, 12 gasification units and 12 high pressure pumps, has been approved by CNOOC's board members, the company said.The new facilities are expected to start operating in 2022.CNOOC's Tianjin terminal is expected to have 7.25 million tonnes of

China will shut down more outdated steel plants and bring total capacity to less than 1 billion tonnes by 2025, the president of the country's steel industry association said, adding that national demand for the metal is set to decline gradually. With more than three quarters of firms suffering losses as a result of a price-sapping capacity surplus, China vowed in early 2016 to shut 150-150 million tonnes of annual production in five years in a bid to raise profitability and utilisation rates in the sector. Its capacity then was estimated at 1.2 billion tonnes.

Maersk Line takes further steps towards simplifying the supply chains of its customers by expanding the service scope on its online platform ship.maerskline.com to cover more major trades and addressing customers'pain points. The new scope on the platform will cover customers exporting from ports of Shanghai and Ningbo in Eastern China and Qingdao in North China, to all Mediterranean destinations; expanding from the current three Northern China ports (Qingdao, Xingang and Dalian) to West Africa, South Africa and East Coast South America. The offering will be available for customers located in China, placing bookings either directly or through a booking agent.

A unit of China's State Oceanic Administration (SOA) on Friday issued a blue alert for sea ice in a key port area in the north of the country, potentially disrupting commodities shipments, as temperatures in the region plummet. Sea ice in the Liaodong Bay, the northern arm of China's Bohai Sea, now extends 67 nautical miles (124 km) from the shoreline, the North China Sea Marine Forecasting Center said in an 0700 GMT alert. Ice also extends 18 nautical miles out in the northern part of the Yellow Sea, the Center said.

Following the success of the Day One products introduced earlier this year, Orient Overseas Container Line Limited (OOCL) announced the forthcoming launch of the second phase of the OCEAN Alliance products in April 2018, an improved suite of products providing industry-leading services to customers. The emphasis on quality services has long been the hallmark of the OOCL brand. Since the inauguration of our services in April 2017, OOCL has made steady progress to meet the requirements of our customers as they find that we are among the top performers in terms of schedule reliability. In collaboration with our like-minded partners, we…

A sure sign that China is struggling with its planned switch to natural gas from coal for winter heating is the spot price of Australian coal climbing back above $100 a tonne. Spot cargoes of thermal coal from Australia's Newcastle port , an Asian benchmark for the fuel used mainly in power plants, rose to $100.65 a tonne on Wednesday, breaching the triple-figure barrier for the first time since Nov. 1 and hitting their highest since mid-September. The price is also 9.2 percent higher than a recent low of $92.20 touched on Nov. 23 as the market responds to signs that Beijing is relaxing its anti-coal stance due to the scarcity of natural gas and the sharply higher prices for the cleaner-burning fuel that is available.

Both traders buy over 12 million barrels in September. Oil traders Winson Oil and Unipec have snapped up over 12 million barrels of gasoil in just under two weeks and are booking vessels in Singapore to either store the fuel or export it, shipping and trading sources said on Wednesday. Winson Oil, based in Hong Kong and registered in Singapore, bought the bulk of the cargoes at over 9 million barrels in oil price agency S&P Global Platts' market since the start of September, trading data showed. Unipec, the trading arm of Chinese state oil major Sinopec, purchased the rest, the data showed. The strong demand from both firms - 12 million…

Port handles 60 mln tonnes/year of foreign and domestic seaborne coal. Guangzhou port, the largest coal transport hub in southern China, has halted foreign coal imports, according to traders who use the port and said they had been informed of the shutdown by customs authorities and senior company officials. Traders said the move caught merchants using Guangzhou by surprise and interpreted it as a sign of Beijing stepping up its campaign to cut pollution caused by the burning of coal. China already banned coal imports at small ports in July but Guangzhou has 14 coal berths and can handle 60 million tonnes of shipments per year. Chinese coal imports in the first seven months of 2017 totalled 110 million tonnes, an average of over 15.7 million tonnes a month.

China's state-owned energy company CNOOC diverted two cargoes of imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) after a pipeline fire in northern China's Tianjin, though imports were normal as of Monday, traders with knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday. Reuters reported on Dec. 28 that a natural gas pipeline in Tianjin was closed after it ruptured and caught fire. Two sources with knowledge of CNOOC's gas operations in Tianjin said CNOOC diverted the LNG cargoes after the accident on the pipeline, which is connected to a domestic gas consumer. "Imports are now back to normal," said one source, adding that the cargoes were sold back to the supplier under force majeure terms. The source did not give further details. A CNOOC press official was not immediately able to comment.