Japanese Yen News

NEW YORK, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Stock markets around the world fell hard on Monday on fears that China's willingness to let the yuan slide in response to the latest U.S. tariff threat could further aggravate trade-related tensions between the world's two largest economies.China on Monday let the yuan tumble beyond the 7-per-dollar level for the first time in more than a decade, in a sign Beijing might be willing to tolerate further currency weakness after U.S. President Donald Trump vowed last week to impose 10% tariffs on the remaining $300 billion of Chinese imports from Sept.

Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd., Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. and Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha will establish a new joint-venture company to integrate the container shipping businesses. The shippers have agreed, after the resolution by the board of directors of each company, and subject to regulatory approval from the authorities, to establish a new joint-venture company to integrate the container shipping businesses, including worldwide terminal operating businesses excluding Japan, of all three companies and to sign a business integration contract and a shareholders agreement. Although growing modestly, the container shipping industry has struggled in recent years due to a decline in the container growth rate and the rapid influx of newly built vessels.

The Japanese shipping operator Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK Line) will book an ‘extraordinary’ loss totaling 195 billion Japanese yen (U.S. $1.89 billion) for the interim period of its current fiscal year, forced by a deep slump in the shipping market to write down the value of container ships and other assets. A report in CNBC says the huge writedown is the latest sign of a slowdown in the container shipping sector due to low freight rates and oversupply and comes after the collapse of South Korea's Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd. “In view of a prolonged slump in the shipping market, NYK Line impaired the operational assets it owns and reduced the acquisition value of assets it plans to own to their recoverable amounts,” the company said.

Speculation has been mounting on possible taking over the Japanese shipping company Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line). According to a FT report, analysts and investors have been baffled by the recent activities of Effissimo, Singapore-based fund had increased its stake in K Line to 37 per cent by early August from 6.2 per cent about a year ago. K Line could be targeted for takeover by Effissimo Capital Management, the firm’s largest shareholder as of early August, according to recent media reports. Effissimo, which even by industry standards is unusually opaque, declined to comment on its investment strategy. There has been roumours that Maersk Line taking over the Japanese shipping line. There was a Japanese article on this last month but the magazine.

Global capital markets reeled on Friday after Britain voted to leave the European Union, with $2 trillion in value wiped from equity bourses worldwide, while money poured into safe-haven gold and government bonds. Sterling suffered a record plunge. The blow to investor confidence and the uncertainty the vote has sparked could keep the Federal Reserve from raising interest rates as planned this year, and even spark a new round of emergency policy easing from major central banks. The traditional safe-harbor assets of top-rated government debt, the Japanese yen and gold all jumped. Spot gold rose more than 5 percent and the yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell to lows last seen in 2012 at 1.5445 percent. Stocks tumbled in Europe.

Being an island nation, Japan is inevitably dependent on seaborne trade. Over time, this has led to it becoming a strong player in the global maritime market. Japan’s shipbuilding pedigree has gained the country a foothold in LNG carriers, dry bulk cargo barge and pure car truck carriers (PCTC). While Japan is still a significant player, large-scale investments made by the Chinese and South Korean governments in the 1980s pushed them ahead. Japan’s energy market is also going through a period of change.

Mitsui & Co. has signed a 25-year time charter deal with Trinity LNG Transport for the eight liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier that will ship the liquefied natural gas from Cameron LNG project in the United States. “Mitsui has newly contracted yesterday the eighth ship, bringing the total maximum charter hire amount for the combined eight ships to approximately 700 billion Japanese yen,” Mitsui said in a press statement. It will charter a 178,000m³ membrane-type LNG carrier for up to 25 years starting in around 2020 from Trinity LNG Transport, a joint venture between Mitsui, Japanese shipbuilder Imabari Shipbuilding and Japanese shipping firm K Line. The ship will be built by Imabari Shipbuilding and installed with an electronically-controlled dual-fuel gas injection diesel engine.

President and CEO, Masami Iijima of Mitsui & Co., Ltd. informed that the compnay is currently proceeding with the procurement of eight LNG ships intended to be used for the delivery of LNG mainly to its customers in Japan from the Cameron LNG Export Project in the U.S.A. On September 26, 2014, Mitsui signed time charter parties for five of the above eight ships for a total maximum charter hire amount of approximately 400 billion Japanese yen. Additionally, Mitsui is preparing to conclude time charter parties for the remaining 3 ships. Three of the above eight ships originate from ship-owning companies in which Mitsui invests, bringing Mitsui's LNG ship fleet, all ships in which are jointly owned by partners, to a total of twenty-seven ships.

Japan would find it difficult to formulate an energy policy without nuclear power given its lack of energy resources and the high cost of utilities for companies and households, the country's new trade minister said on Sunday. Yuko Obuchi, the daughter of a former Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, was appointed minister of economy, trade and industry (METI) earlier this month. It is expected that she will help prepare public opinion for the resumption of operations at nuclear power plants that were suspended in the wake of the tsunami-triggered nuclear disaster in March 2011. "It is important for Japan, the nation with scarce resources, to keep a good energy balance.

Like many of her neighbours, Satomi Inokoshi worries that her gritty hometown is being spoiled by the newcomers and the money that have rolled into Iwaki since the Fukushima nuclear disaster almost three and a half years ago. "Iwaki is changing - and not for the good," said Inokoshi, 55, who echoes a sentiment widely heard in this town of almost 300,000 where the economic boom that followed the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl has brought its own disruption. Property prices in Iwaki, about 60 km (36 miles) south of the wrecked nuclear plant, have jumped as evacuees forced from homes in more heavily contaminated areas snatch up apartments and land. Hundreds of workers, who have arrived to work in the nuclear clean-up, crowd downtown hotels.

Japanese shipping firm Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd has paid about 4 billion yen ($39 million) in settlement to China as compensation stemming from a wartime contractual obligation, following a seizure of its ship by a Chinese maritime court in Shanghai, Japanese media said on Thursday. What the company paid for was 2.9 billion yen in compensation plus interests, the Yomiuri newspaper and public broadcaster NHK said. Mitsui O.S.K. spokesman Atsushi Seki said he could not immediately confirm the report, saying it was still working to lift the seizure. ($1 = 102.3850 Japanese Yen) (Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori; Editing by Dominic Lau)

A maritime court in Shanghai has ordered the detention of a Japanese ship having ordered the ship's owner to pay delayed rent and losses to a Chinese firm deting from as long ago as 2007, according to Xinhua. The ship, named BAOSTEEL EMOTION and owned by Japanese shipping firm Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL), was detained at a port in east China's Zhejiang Province. The court ruled on Dec. 7, 2007 that MOL should compensate the Chinese firm 2.9 billion Japanese Yen (28.4 million U.S. dollars), including delayed rent and operating losses.

Speaking ahead of Sea Japan today, WSS General Manager for Japan Yoshihiro Iizuka says that although the Japanese market is moving towards growth for 2014, the recovery will be stronger in the second half, with an increase in newbuilds expected towards the end of the year. Iizuka says:  “Overall, the Japanese market is in recovery, with annual pay raises by the major corporates estimated at around 2-3% for 2014. However, the weakened Japanese Yen relative to the past couple of years has contributed to the widening of the trade deficit with particular reductions in export value.

Global oil prices surged on Tuesday as a weaker U.S. dollar boosted buying, while expectations for bullish inventory reports in the U.S. and fresh unrest in eastern Ukraine lent support. As the U.S. dollar plunged to session lows against the Japanese yen and the euro, U.S. crude oil spiked $2 to a session high of $102.44 per barrel. Brent rose as much as $1.48 to a session high of $107.30 per barrel. A weaker U.S. currency encourages the buying of dollar-priced commodities like oil, which become cheaper. "We are seeing some build-up in crude oil from the weakness in the dollar, but we're still within the trading range we've seen," said Tariq Zahir, analyst Tyche Capital Investors. As of 1:14 p.m. EDT (1714 GMT), U.S. crude was up $1.64 at $102.08 per barrel.

Risk to oil flows seen low but Russia key supplier; Russian natural gas supply in doubt, European storage levels high. United States, Europe differ over trade sanctions. Crude oil prices jumped more than $2 a barrel to multi-month highs on Monday, lifted by rising tension in Ukraine after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared he had the right to invade his neighbour. Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said Moscow's move to use military force was a "declaration of war" by Russia, one of the world's biggest oil producers. Analysts say Russian supplies of oil to the rest of the world are unlikely to be disrupted by the Ukraine crisis but oil prices rose as most financial markets tumbled, with investors pulling out of riskier assets such as stocks.

The 10-kg cube-shaped satellite, jointly developed by Tokyo-based AXELSPACE Corp.and Weathernews, is scheduled to be launched from the Yasny Cosmodrome in Russia on Sept. 28. It will be the first attempt by a private company to use a satellite to monitor ice in the Arctic Ocean, reports the Japan Times. Weathernews plans to use the data to provide navigational information to commercial vessels plying the Arctic Ocean during the summer. The service will become available starting in summer 2013. Eleven vessels used the route in 2010 and 34 ships used it in 2011, spokesman Hitoki Ito told The Japan Times, adding the route does not remain navigable on a regular basis.

Mobile, Alabama, April 27, 2011 – International Shipholding Corporation (NYSE: ISH)  announced the financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2011. The Company reported net income of $24.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2011, which included a gain on the Dry Bulk transaction of $18.7 million. For the comparable three months ended March 31, 2010, the Company reported net income of $10.6 million, which included a gain of $1.4 million on the sale of a Panamax Bulk Carrier.

U.S. containerized imports showed positive growth year-to-date ending August 2010, according to PIERS. An analysis of the data reveals that the U.S. containerized imports grew 15 percent year-to-date (10,846,000 TEUs) with China tracking as the lead source country. Yet, while containerized import growth is expected to continue this year, a slowdown appears to be on the horizon. Of the 173 countries with import activity in the PIERS database, China ships more containerized imports to the U.S. than any other country. From January through August, 2010, the U.S. sourced 48 percent of its containerized imports from China, that is, 5.3 million TEUs, up by 17.8 percent from a year earlier. In August, containerized imports from China surged by 23.5 percent compared to August 2009.

Last year was an active one for the international shipbuilding market. Although the order intake was significantly reduced from the order boom of the previous year, 46 million dwt, or 31.3 million compensated gross tons (cgt) of new ships were ordered. Part of this can be explained by the order mix of tanker tonnage. While large tankers were ordered last year, the average size this year declined from 130,000 dwt to 91,000 dwt, resulting in a higher cgt figure. Total delivered from yards building tonnage larger than 30,000 dwt increased from 24.7 million cgt in 200 to 27.6 million cgt in 2001. At the beginning of the year, very few slots were reported to be available in Japan and Korea for 2003 delivery. During the year several slots which had previously been committed became available.

MOL President, Mr. Akimitsu Ashida, released a New Year Message to the MOL Group companies and their customers. MOL is a multi-modal transport company, operating more than 800 vessels and a network of liner and logistics services, including weekly Transpacific, Transatlantic, Americas and Asia-Europe services. Mr. In the United States, the Barack Obama administration starts this year. As you know, he won a long, hotly contested election race under the campaign slogan "Change…

Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc. has signed contracts with IHI Marine United Inc., one of Japan's shipyards, for the construction of two Future-56 class Supramax vessels. These 56,000 deadweight ton vessels have a contract price of approximately $33.5 million each and are expected to be delivered in January and February of 2010, respectively. Upon delivery of these vessels, Eagle Bulk's fleet will include 18 vessels, 14 of which will be Supramax-class. The company also announced that it has amended its existing revolving credit facility from its sole lender, Royal Bank of Scotland plc, to increase the borrowing capacity from $450 million to $500 million. The financing of the new vessels will not affect the Company's quarterly cash dividend payout.

On the occasion of its 125th anniversary, Mitsui O.S.K. “It is my great pleasure to commemorate MOL’s 125th anniversary, together with all of you from the MOL group companies. “While the average company’s lifespan is commonly said to be around 30 years, MOL has grown and evolved over a period four times greater. The world economy is currently in what has been called a once-in-a-century crisis, but in its lifetime MOL has overcome many serious ordeals and difficulties – the Great Depression of the early thirties, World War II, the oil crisis of the seventies, the sharp appreciation of the Japanese yen after the Plaza Accord in 1985, and others. Yet, here we are today celebrating the 125th anniversary of the company’s founding.

The board of Israeli shipping company Zim approved the purchase of two container ships for a total of $91.8 million, its parent company Israel Corp., reports said. Zim received an option to buy another two ships for $47.8m each, Israel Corp., one of Israel's biggest holding companies, said in a statement to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. The company did not identify the seller of the ships, but noted it would pay in Japanese yen. The ships are expected to be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2010 or during the first quarter of 2011. Source: Reuters