Brazilian Grain Producers Explore Increased Use of Panama Canal
Brazilian farmers in top soy state Mato Grosso signed a memorandum of understanding with the Panama Canal Authority to evaluate ways to cut transportation costs and boost Brazilian grain volumes using the waterway, the authority's chief administrator said. The canal's administration is looking to increase its participation in rising Brazilian grain exports, since a large part of grain trade expansion in Brazil is via new terminals in the northern part of the country, which are closer to the canal.
MAN D&T Sells 60,000th Turbocharger
MAN Diesel & Turbo marked the sale of its 60,000th turbocharger after 80 years of turbocharger business, during the Marintec 2015 marine trade fair in Shanghai, by making a presentation to turbocharger customer, China Merchants Energy Shipping Co. Ltd. (CMES). The milestone has been reached with the (coming) delivery of 2 × TCA66-21 turbochargers, bound for an MAN Diesel & Turbo MAN B&W 7G80ME-C9 two-stroke engine powering a VLCC. The ceremony took place at the MAN stand at the trade fair where MAN Diesel & Turbo’s CEO, Dr.
Vale Says Ships Sale, Leaseback Could Fetch $1.1 Bln
Brazil's Vale SA said on Friday that it plans to sell its 11 remaining Valemax iron ore carriers and lease them back in transactions that could raise $1.1 billion. Vale has said it has experienced some delay in selling the ships, the key to its attempt to cut transportation costs between its Brazilian mines and Asian customers, as it seeks to get the best freight rates under contracts to lease the ships back from the new owners. Each more than 360-meter-long (1181-ft-long) ship can carry 380,000 to 400,000 tonnes of ore and are among the biggest vessels afloat. Vale has been selling its part of the world's 35-vessel Valemax fleet for about $110 million each, Luciano Siani, chief financial officer of Rio de Janeiro-based Vale told investors at a conference in London.
Brazil's Vale Opens Malaysia Port in Bid to Cut Freight Costs
Brazil's Vale SA on Friday inaugurated a $1.4 billion port in Malaysia able to receive and blend iron ore from its mega-ships, an important step in the miner's battle to cut transportation costs to the crucial Chinese market. Brazil's distance from China - which accounts for nearly 70 percent of the global seaborne market for iron ore - has been a distinct disadvantage in Vale's attempts to compete with closer Australian rivals BHP Billiton Plc and Rio Tinto Plc. The port in Malaysia, as well as the giant ships known as Valemaxes, are part of a plan to address the problem. Its urgency has grown this year as the price of iron ore has tumbled 40 percent. Such a facility is particularly important as a two-year-long ban on Valemaxes docking at Chinese ports remains in force.
Venezuela Considers Importing Crude for the First Time
Venezuela is considering importing crude oil for the first time ever and could use a light oil from its partner in OPEC, Algeria, to dilute their own heavy crude, according to a company document seen by Reuters accessed on Wednesday. Despite having the largest oil reserves in the world, in recent years Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) has been buying increasing amounts of heavy naphtha for blending with the extraction of heavy crude in the Orinoco Oil Belt, the largest producing region . These blends are made to convert the extra-an exportable product, amid the decline in local production of medium and light crude oils previously used as diluents and delays in construction of new breeders that can change the quality of the crude.
WRRDA Spurs Savannah Harbor Expansion
The U.S. Senate’s passage of the federal Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014 (WRRDA) has cleared the way for construction to begin on the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project. The House passed identical legislation on Tuesday. Georgia Ports Authority Executive Director Curtis Foltz called the bill’s passage a critical milestone. “Today’s action is an important step toward better accommodating the larger vessels that are the new standard in global shipping,” said Foltz.
Roll-out of First MAN TCR12 Turbocharger Assembled in China
MAN Turbocharger China unveils the first TCR12 turbocharger completely assembled at its Changzhou factory. This new development confirms MAN Diesel & Turbo’s strategy of localising its turbocharger production in China. Over the last two decades, the level of shipbuilding activity in China has increased dramatically, resulting in the country being ranked as the top shipbuilding nation globally for the first time in 2010. As the leading supplier of turbochargers for marine diesel-engine manufacturers in China…
