Manufacturing Sector News

As Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi once said, “Growth in commercial shipbuilding facilitates growth in the battle fleet.” Sen. Wicker shrewdly recognizes that America’s manufacturing capacity and national security are deeply intertwined. A robust commercial shipbuilding and repair industry is a critical cornerstone of this capacity.For the shipyard industrial base to remain strong and competitive, American innovators need a forward-thinking comprehensive American maritime strategy…

The maritime industry, often viewed as conservative and measured in its approach to technological integration, is on the cusp of a transformative era with artificial intelligence (AI) emerging as a prominent player. Insights from key exhibitors at the upcoming Posidonia Shipping Εxhibition reveal a new landscape, where industry leaders strategically align with the inexorable rise of AI and consider adopting it already.According to Theodore Vokos, Managing Director, Posidonia Exhibitions S.A.…

The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index gained on Monday, posting its second straight monthly gain, supported by an uptick in rates for capesize and panamax vessels.The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax shipping vessels, gained 17 points, or 1.5%, to 1,127. The index was up 3.3% for the month.The capesize index earned 43 points, or about 2.4%, to 1,873, its highest level since late June. The index has gained 10% for the month.Average daily earnings for capesizes…

$2 million for Suffolk County Community College to stimulate workforce training and redevelopment. At a recent meeting of the Corporate Committee of the Long Island Council of the Navy League of the United States, US Navy Command Master Chief Joshua Sturgill who is Command Senior Enlisted Leader for Team Submarines, announced a $2 million grant for Advanced Manufacturing Scholarships supported by the Navy’s Submarine Industrial Base. The $2 million grant was awarded to Suffolk…

Over the last few months Reserve, La. based dredging equipment manufacturer DSC Dredge has been redefining its team by investing in them, promoting from within and adding fresh perspectives. On April 23, 2023, DSC Dredge introduced Josh J. Louviere as vice president of operations. In his new role, Louviere will lead and oversee all aspects of the company’s operational activities. With over 16 years of experience in manufacturing and industrial equipment automation, Louviere spent the majority of his career leading operations in the manufacturing sector…

“Having narrowly avoided a recession in the fourth quarter of 2022, the Japanese economy appears to be recovering. However, Japan’s demand for steel remains weak and as a result, the country’s bulk imports are estimated to have fallen by 4% y/y in the first quarter of 2023,” says Filipe Gouveia, Shipping Analyst at BIMCO.The steel industry in Japan relies on iron ore and coking coal imports, which combined account for 41% of the country’s bulk imports. Due to lower steel production in Japan…

OX2 and the Bank of Åland’s mutual fund subsidiary Ålandsbanken Fondbolag, which are developing the Noatun North and Noatun South offshore wind power projects near Finland’s Åland archipelago in the Baltic Sea, have initiated a feasibility study for the planning and establishment of a “Mega Grön Hamn” (Mega Green Port) with a location coexisting with the port of Långnäs in Åland. The project is part of an effort to create a green hub in Åland, with an extra focus in this project…

Container freight volumes at the largest U.S. ports were down 3.8% in September compared with the same month a year earlier, confirming the slackening of merchandise trade and downturn in the business cycle.The ports of New York-New Jersey, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Savannah, Houston, Norfolk, Charleston, Seattle and Oakland account for the overwhelming majority of container ocean freight into and out of the United States.The total volume of loaded containers handled by these nine ports amounted to 2.67 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in September 2022…

Classification society the Indian Register of Shipping said it has opened a new office in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. The premises were recently inaugurated and has been operational since February 1, 2022.Coimbatore is one of the most industrialized cities in Tamil Nadu with a diversified manufacturing sector including more than 25,000 small, medium and large-scale industries. IRS has serviced this region through its Cochin office in the past, however with increase in business opportunities…

U.S. offshore wind farm developer Mayflower Wind announced Thursday that it has signed an agreement with Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding/Duclos Corporation of Somerset, Mass. for the specification, design and manufacture of a Jones Act-compliant, hybrid battery diesel electric crew transfer vessel (CTV).The design utilizes technologies that will provide significant fuel savings and emissions reductions, including the use of lithium-Ion battery energy storage to create a hybrid vessel that will be a bridge to full electrification.

The trade war continues to rage in the shade of the headline-grabbing supply chain disruptions. The tariffs are still in place and are unlikely to go anywhere despite the change of administration in the United States. While higher exports from the US to China under the Phase One Agreement have added volumes for tanker and dry bulk shipping, containerized imports to the US have shifted from China to other countries in the region. Despite an increase in exports, the commitments made in the Phase One Agreement are a long way off and unlikely to be met…

Heading into the seasonally strongest part of the year, dry bulk owners have already enjoyed a very profitable year with the temporary factors helping the market stay strong expected to continue providing support into 2022, says shipping organization BIMCO.Demand drivers and freight ratesThe dry bulk shipping industry continues to enjoy a bumper year, with average earnings continuing to outshine any profits made in the past couple of years. As is often the case, Capesizes’ are taking the spotlight, with recent earnings peaking above $50,000 per day.

U.S. manufacturing of durable goods, which has been lagging the wider recovery of the U.S. economy, hit an all-time high in June when $270.5B worth of goods was produced. This brings total manufacturing of durable goods so far this year to $1,482 billion, a 15.5% increase compared with the first half of 2020.Since the production of durable goods in the first half of 2021 is up 1.6% from the first half of 2019, this section of the industry has now officially returned to its pre-pandemic levels.Manufacturing activity is expected to have continued its growth in July…

U.S. shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries announced it has signed on to be a business partner of the Virginia Ready Initiative (VA Ready), a new initiative launched in response to the unprecedented impact of the COVID-19 pandemic to help unemployed Virginians across the commonwealth get back to work quickly. VA Ready, in partnership with businesses and Virginia’s community colleges, equips people who are out of work with the required skills for in-demand jobs in high-growth sectors.HII…

U.S. Great Lakes ports reported mixed results in June with aluminum, road salt and grain shipments holding strong despite the coronavirus pandemic, while shipments of commodities related to steel production and manufacturing have continued to slide.Additionally, the St. Lawrence Seaway reported that from April 1 to June 30, nearly 11.7 million metric tons of cargo was shipped via the bi-national trade corridor. While these volumes were down 8% compared to the same time period in 2019, cargo shipments improved in June narrowing the year-over-year decline.Craig H.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the outbreak of the novel coronavirus a pandemic. There is little doubt that this will have significant implications for the shipping industry. But to what extent? BIMCO expects that the strict containment measures imposed by governments around the world will result in substantially lower global economic growth and consequentially, lower demand for shipping. Container and dry bulk shipping are at the front line when it comes to feeling the fallout…

The coronavirus pandemic is impacting global shipping demand for 2020 negatively. The speed of the virus spread makes it difficult to assess the full consequences. Nevertheless, we see a need to update our 2020 forecast to make some of this massive uncertainty tangible.What is going on in addition to the coronavirus pandemic?Geopolitical tensions that made the OPEC+ alliance break down, has subsequently made the crude oil tanker spot freight market erupt. The events that followed the breakdown - and those that are likely to follow…

For 2020, global container demand is projected to grow by 1-3%, as per forecast by A.P. Moller - Maersk.The continued weak global sentiment above all in the manufacturing sector reduces the likelihood of a material growth pick-up in 2020, although sentiment brightened a bit at the end of 2019, and some improvement can be expected on the back of stabilizing inventory dynamics, said the shipping giant.Aside from the cyclical slowing of the global economy, substantial risk to global container demand comes from the effectiveness of fiscal and monetary policy in major economies, such as the US and China.The global economy is vulnerable to a spike in oil prices caused by geopolitical tensions…

Semtech, Wilhelmsen and The Things Industries (TTI) have formed a partnership to use Semtech’s LoRa devices to help deliver what they describe as cost-effective, robust and proven IoT solutions to the maritime shipping industry.Wilhelmsen is a global maritime industry group founded in 1861. Semtech Corporation is a  supplier of high performance analog and mixed-signal semiconductors and advanced algorithms.Wilhelmsen has selected Semtech’s LoRa devices as the foundation for its new global 2.4GHz maritime IoT network to deliver an ecosystem of cost-effective, robust and proven IoT solutions for its diverse global customer base at “land and sea.”The global maritime shipping industry is expected to register a CAGR of 16.82% during the forecast period 2019-2024.

South Korean shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) and compatriot telecommunications operator SK Telecom (SKT) have developed a 5G-based autonomous navigation platform that will allow ships to move to set destinations on their own.The trial was conducted using a 3.3m craft developed by SHI and equipped with 5G-based LiDAR, cloud-based IoT platform and T Live Caster, SK Telecom’s real-time video monitoring solution at a shipyard covered by SKT’s 5G network.The test operation took place in the sea near SHI’s Geoje Shipyard, which is covered by SK Telecom’s 5G network.From the Remote Control Center in Daejeon, located 250 kilometers from the shipyard…

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India's container trade growth slowed to 1 percent (9% in the same period last year) in Q2 2019 on account of various factors like growing trade tensions and slump in manufacturing sector, Maersk said."The slow down is due to a cocktail of international factors such as slowing trade growth, and growing trade tensions – coupled with domestic factors like rural consumer distress, tightening liquidity and a slow-down in key manufacturing sectors. Combined, these triggers impacted the country’s economic activity, slowing overall import-export growth," said Maersk India Trade Report Q2 2019.India’s exports to China declined by 20%, led by a reduction in demand for India-made textiles &  apparel, which were large export commodities in the corresponding period last year.

Enabling Future Arrays in Tidal (EnFAIT), the flagship EU tidal energy project, has reduced the cost of tidal energy by 15 per cent and grown its supply chain from four to 14 EU countries, just 18 months after its launch.EnFAIT is an academic-industry collaboration between nine European partners focused on demonstrating the economic viability of tidal power. The project is also paving the way for a new industrial marine manufacturing sector with a supply chain based across Europe.Consortium lead, Edinburgh-based Nova Innovation Ltd, reports that its Shetland tidal array–the world’s first offshore tidal array–has reduced operational costs by 15 per cent since the start of the project.