Cuba's Trade Deficit Widens as Commodity Crash Bites
Cuba's chronic goods trade deficit widened by $1.5 billion in 2015 as exports fell 24 percent and imports rose 3 percent, the government said on Wednesday, in the first data showing a commodity crash has hurt the economy. The information, released on the National Statistics Office web page did not cover Cuba's large service exports. Prices for key Cuban exports such as sugar, nickel and refined oil products all tumbled last year. The Communist-run country began cutting back on its 2016 import orders last year and has been slow in making some payments to creditors and suppliers. Cuba orders much of its imports a year in advance. Cuban…
Estonian Port Passenger Number Up in June, Cargo Volume Down
The ports of the Estonian state-owned port operator Tallinna Sadam (Port of Tallinn) handled in June 1.68 million tonnes of cargo and serviced 1,045,461 passengers. Compared to the same period last year, the cargo volume dropped by 25% while the number of passengers was by 1.3% higher than last year. In six months, the ports handled 4.4 million passengers which is 0.6 percent below last year’s level. The most popular route was Tallinn-Helsinki with 0.82 million passengers, followed by Tallinn-Stockholm line with 90,369 thousand people and Tallinn-St Petersburh line with 11,773 people. In June traditionally the biggest number of passengers travelled on the Tallinn-Helsinki route…
Danish Shipping Profits Drop
Danish shipping's gross profits fell three percent on an annualized basis to $965 million in 1998, hit by falling freight rates and the economic downturn in the Far East, according to the national statistics office (DS). Turnover was put at $7.5 billion, a three percent increase from 1997, with gross profits accounting for 12.6 percent of the figure and time chartering earnings up. "An increase in shippers' container tonnage meant a rise in freight carried but this was not considerable enough to prevent a decline in profits," a DS official said. The biggest 22 of Denmark's 247 shipping companies, led by shipping and oil group A.P. Moeller's Maersk Line -- the world's biggest container liner -- accounted for 92 percent of gross profits.
