Indonesia's Navy Seizes Two Tankers Carrying Palm Oil
Indonesia's navy seized two tankers carrying crude palm oil, palm olein, and methanol for what it said were permit and paperwork violations, in an operation, conducted a day before a palm oil export ban took effect, it said on Thursday.MT World Progress violated vessel specifications in its travel document, while the other ship, MT Annabelle carried methanol without a permit, said the navy, which has been deployed to enforce the export ban, which took effect midnight Wednesday.MT World Progress was traveling from Dumai on Sumatra island towards India carrying 34,854.3 tonnes of palm olein, whi
Indonesia Deploys Navy Ships to Thwart Ilegal Shipments of Refined Palm Oil
Indonesia deployed navy ships and hundreds of personnel on Wednesday, including intelligence assets, in an effort to thwart illegal shipments of refined palm oil olein, just hours away from an export ban aimed at taming surging cooking oil prices.The new rules were due to take effect at midnight local time (1700 GMT), and the navy and other agencies had been instructed to step up patrols of Indonesian waters to ensure compliance, said navy spokesperson Julius Widjojono.Palm oil futures on the Malaysia exchange surged by 9.8% on Wednesday…
Indonesia to Postpone New Coal, Palm Oil Shipping Rules to 2020
Indonesia will postpone until 2020 trade rules requiring exporters of coal and crude palm oil to use only Indonesian-flagged vessels, Industry Minister Airlangga Hartarto said, among efforts to increase foreign exchange reserves. The rules, due to take effect this month and intended to boost the archipelago's shipping industry, were initially postponed in February after raising concerns in coal and palm oil industries over the availability of local vessels. "The timing will be adjusted…
Indonesia Palm Oil, Cocoa Bean Export Taxes Unchanged for April
Indonesia will keep the export tax for crude palm oil at zero in April, unchanged from March, Nurlaila Nur Muhammad, the director of export of agriculture and forestry products at the Trade Ministry, said on Monday. The export tax for Indonesian cocoa beans will stay at 10 percent for April, also unchanged from March, said Muhammad. (Reporting by Wilda Asmarini and Bernadette Christina Munthe; Writing by Fransiska Nangoy; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
Syscorp Focuses on Domestic Routes
Shin Yang Shipping Corp Bhd (Syscorp) has shifted the focus of its container shipping business to domestic routes in the face of continued volatility in the international container shipping market, reports the Star. The leading Malaysian shipping company has realigned its focus to domestic container shipping routes with some 95% of its 14 container ships deployed on routes within Malaysia, group financial controller Richard Ling said. “A majority of these container ships ply Sarawak, Sabah and Peninsular Malaysia ports,” he told StarBiz. However, domestic container shipping operation remains “very competitive” with reduced demand, Ling said, and this has squeezed the profit margins of shippers.
Ships Queues Creep into Lagos ports
19 ships laden with petrol and other commodities are discharging at the Lagos ports, says Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) in its daily publication `Shipping Position’. Three of the ships were laden with petrol, while the others had diesel, steel products, containers, bulk salt, bulk gypsum, fish, fertilizer, rice, general cargo and crude palm oil. No fewer than 36 ships loaded with various products are expected to arrive at the ports in Lagos from March 24 to April 17, the NPA said. According to the NPA, 14 of the ships would sail into the ports with containers, while 11 others are expected to come in laden with petroleum products. The petroleum products include base oil, petrol, kerosene, diesel and aviation fuel.
European Palm Oil Prices Rise on Indonesia Biodiesel Plan
Palm oil prices on the European market rose sharply on Thursday as top producer Indonesia proposed to increase biodiesel subsidies in a move which could significantly boost demand. Malaysian palm oil futures recorded their biggest single-day gain since October 2010 on Thursday. Indonesia's government has proposed a three-fold increase in its biodiesel subsidies to 5,000 rupiah (40 U.S. cents) per liter from 1,500 rupiah, aimed at protecting the top producer's fledgling biofuel industry against lower crude prices. Crude palm oil offers were raised by $40 to $30 a ton while product prices were also sharply higher. (Reporting by Nigel Hunt; editing by Susan Thomas)
Sino-Global to Acquire Tanker
Sino-Global Shipping America, Ltd. a shipping agency, logistics and ship management services company, today announced that it has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (the "MOU"), between the Company and Rong Yao International Shipping Limited, a Hong Kong corporation (the "Vessel Seller") pursuant to which the Company has agreed to acquire a small oil/chemical tanker (the "Vessel") from the Vessel Seller. Pursuant to the terms of the MOU, the purchase price for the Vessel is RMB 65 million (or approximately US $10.5 million), which may be paid in any combination of cash, debt financing and/or the issuance of securities of the Company to the Vessel Seller, that the parties so agree to in the definitive purchase agreement. Builder/Yard: Zhejiang Chenglu Shipbuilding Co., Ltd.
