Trade News

Peter Sand, the chief analyst of Xeneta discuss recent trends in the container shipping market, from plunging spot rates to blank sailings.The container shipping market has enjoyed a prolonged historic, and somewhat unexpected bull run, as COVID-induced consumer spending broadly switched from travel and entertainment to manufac-tured goods. But as COVID restrictions fade and inflation rages, the tides are changing, resulting in turmoil across many container shipping sectors.“Let’s focus on the Transpacific because that's where things are most crazy right now…

China and Russia have grown increasingly close in recent years, including as trading partners, a relationship that brings both opportunities and risks as Russia reels from tough new sanctions led by the West in response to its invasion of Ukraine.Total trade between China and Russia jumped 35.9% last year to a record $146.9 billion, according to Chinese customs data, with Russia serving as a major source of oil, gas, coal and agriculture commodities, running a trade surplus with China.Since sanctions were imposed in 2014 after Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea…

China has switched from driving global demand for major commodities to being a drag on growth, with July's customs data confirming the weakening trend for imports of crude oil, iron ore and copper.The exception to the trend was coal, but the sharp gain in July's imports of the polluting fuel are more a result of China having to go the seaborne market because of domestic policies that curbed local output.China, the world's biggest importer of crude oil, brought in 41.24 million tonnes in July, equivalent to 9.71 million barrels per day (bpd), according to official customs data released on Aug.

India's steel exports more than doubled between April and July to hit their highest level in at least six years, boosted by a surge of Chinese buying in defiance of tensions between Beijing and New Delhi.Traders said reduced prices had driven the purchases as Indian sellers sought to get rid of a surplus generated by the impact of COVID-19 on domestic demand and generate much-needed income.It was unclear whether the sales broke any trade rules, but the China Iron and Steel Association…

Ukraine's biggest grain traders agreed on Monday to an economy ministry proposal to limit wheat exports to 20.2 million tonnes in the 2019/20 season to avoid a rise in domestic bread prices.Although Ukraine is a major grain exporter and its harvest largely exceeds domestic consumption, the coronavirus pandemic has led some countries to consider feed export restrictions.Ukrainian bakers and millers last week asked the government to limit exports of grain and related products to…

Even before the effects of the coronavirus, the ‘Phase One’ agreement between China and the US failed to boost volumes of the implicated goods in January. In fact, exports of the manufactured, agricultural and energy goods included in the deal were down 26% from January 2017, which serves as the base year for the agreement.The ‘Phase One’ agreement which was signed on 15 January 2020 to lowered some US tariffs on imports from China, which in return has committed to increase its imports from the US.

The COVID-19 epidemic, which was first called the novel Coronavirus and then the 2019-nCoV, is spreading fast around the world. It is more contagious than the 2002 SARS outbreak, its cousin, but not as lethal. Unfortunately, its impact on the maritime community seems to already be greater than that of SARS.Ships are being required to submit Maritime Declarations of Health prior to arrival. Ships that called in Chinese ports during the previous 14 days or have persons on board…

France on Wednesday said it was imperative that negotiations over a future trade relationship between Britain and the European Union included customs checks in the Irish Sea.British Prime Minister Boris Johnson struck a divorce deal with the EU last October that leaves the United Kingdom's province of Northern Ireland inside the UK customs area but all EU procedures will apply to goods arriving there."There must be controls in the Irish Sea", France's junior minister for European…

The  global ocean transport operator AAL Shipping has launched a new Europe-Middle East/India-Asia Monthly Liner Service to serve the market’s multipurpose vessels (MPPs) and project heavy lift cargo transport requirements.The new service, which connects main ports between Europe, Middle East/India and Asia, harnesses AAL’s second generation 31,000-dwt mega-size A-Class fleet, renowned for its 40,000-cu m cargo intake capacity 700-tonne lift ability.The new liner service will follow a fixed route, with port call flexibility. Base ports will include Antwerp, Porto Marghera, Jebel Ali, Dammam, Mumbai, Singapore, Shanghai, Tianjin and Masan.

San Francisco Bay-based container ship facility Port of Oakland said its containerized import volume jumped 7.3 percent last month over January 2019 totals.Exports were up, too, the Port said, lifting hopes for recovery from a U.S.-China trade war. One question remained, however: would concern over the fast-spreading coronavirus dampen trade growth?“It’s possible,” said Port of Oakland Maritime Director John Driscoll. “The uptick in January was encouraging but we’re hearing from shipping lines that cargo volume could moderate over the next few months.”Oakland’s year-over-year import volume increase in January followed three straight months of decline, the Port said. Exports rose 3.3 percent in January, up for the fourth straight month. The Port said consumer demand – both in the U.S.

Australia has become the largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter in the world. The record figure knocked Qatar out of the top spot."Australia is set to become the world’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter this year, overtaking Qatar, with its supplies expected to reach 81 million tonnes (MT) as Ichthys LNG and Prelude FLNG increase production," Rystad Energy said.Meanwhile, Qatari exports will remain at current levels, around 77 MT. The US will increase LNG exports from about 36 MT in 2019 to 56 MT in 2020, dominating new LNG supply contributions. Both Russia and Malaysia are each expected to add about 1.5 MT of LNG production during 2020.Overall in 2020…

Canadian and U.S. government representatives will arrive in Mexico on Tuesday to sign the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said.The three countries have come to an agreement over labor, steel and aluminum, he said at his regular daily news conference. (Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon and Abraham Gonzalez, Editing by Frank Jack Daniel)

Supported by low LNG prices, the LNG spot and short term market continues to represent an ever increasing share of global LNG trade, said Golar LNG, a liquefied natural gas shipping company registered in Bermuda."Continued strong growth in LNG production around the world and associated lower pricing together with customer’s increased focus on their ESG responsibility is also accelerating their appetite to switch from burning coal, fuel oil and diesel to cheaper and cleaner LNG," Iain Ross, CEO, Golar LNG, said.Dominated by US projects, 114mtpa of new liquefaction capacity is slated to come on stream between 2020 and 2025. Based on current…

NextDecade Corporation announced that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has issued an order authorizing the siting, construction and operation of its proposed Rio Grande LNG export facility in Brownsville, Texas.“Issuance of the FERC order marks an extremely important milestone for our project,” said Matt Schatzman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Texas-based liquefied natural gas (LNG) development company.“We appreciate the comprehensive and rigorous review of our project conducted by the FERC and numerous other federal, state and local agencies over the last four and a half years,” Schatzman added.NextDecade currently anticipates finalizing important commercial milestones during the fourth quarter of 2019 and first quarter of 2020…

US signed highest volume of global long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG)  export contracts in 2019, accounting for around a 67% of global share. Abundant shale gas production in the US has enabled the country to export natural gas as LNG. to global markets. According to GlobalData, the US has signed five long-term contracts in 2019 for the export of 22.3 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of LNG. Of these, the contract signed between Golden Pass Products and Ocean LNG Limited had the highest export volumes with 15.6mtpa.LNG will be supplied from the Golden Pass II LNG liquefaction terminal in Texas for 20 years from 2024 to 2044.Sunrita Dutta…

Polish state-controlled oil and gas company Polskie Górnictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo (PGNiG) has reported a jump in liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports for the first three quarters of the year.The volume of LNG imported in the nine months to September 30th 2019 was 27% higher than in the same period of 2018, amounting to 2.48 bcm after regasification, said the gas firm.LNG supplies’ share in total gas imports was about 23%, compared with about 18% a year earlier.The Group received 22 LNG deliveries from the beginning of this year to the end of September, compared with 16 cargoes received in the same period last year, with total LNG imports by volume having increased by 0.52 bcm.At the same time…

Trump administration trade tariffs on China will need to cease and India will have to rely more on U.S. LPG supplies for the world to clear the quantum leap expected for U.S. LPG exports, says a study.The study of global seaborne LPG trade flows using Kpler LPG cargo tracking data questions the global LPG market’s ability to grow fast enough to handle the tsunami wave of new LPG production expected from the United States in 2020 and 2021."The U.S. has become the largest LPG exporter in the world and now exports more LPG than the U.A.E., Qatar and Saudi Arabia combined. Enterprise Products alone exports more LPG than any other country…

In the 2019 first half, 106,000 TEU - 20-ft standard containers - were handled in Hamburg on direct services with Indian ports, a gain of 17 percent. This brought India up into tenth place in Hamburg’s ranking of its trading partners for container transport.With Hapag Lloyd and its partner shipowners ONE, YML and COSCO offering an additional weekly sailing from Hamburg on the IEX - South-East India–Europe Express service from November onwards, the prospects for further growth are good.Ten liner services link the Port of Hamburg with India. Of these, four are container liner services, three are Ro-Ro services transporting vehicles, and three are general cargo services…

Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), the world’s second-biggest container shipping line, has decided not to use the Arctic as a new short cut between northern Europe and Asia and will instead focus on improving environmental performance on existing global trade routes.In declaring the northern sea route out of bounds, MSC follows CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd that have similarly eschewed the commercial benefits of an Asia-North Europe option that is 30 percent shorter than the southern route via the Suez Canal.The Northern Sea Route lies entirely in Arctic waters and has been trialed by other shipping lines seeking to take advantage of melting ice from global warming.“As a responsible company with a longstanding nautical heritage and passion for the sea…

The maritime single window enables all information required by public authorities in connection with the arrival, stay and departure of ships, people and cargo, to be submitted electronically via a single portal, without duplication.This system is recommended by IMO's Facilitation (FAL) Convention, to make cross border trade simpler.Officials from various port and shipping stakeholders involved in the stay and departure of ships in the ports of Georgia have had the opportunity to discuss and learn more about the maritime single window and electronic data exchange, during a National Seminar on Facilitation of Maritime Traffic (24-26 September)…

The six largest West Coast ports — Port of Long Beach, Port of Los Angeles, Port of Oakland, Port of Portland, Port of Seattle and Port of Tacoma — sent a letter to President Donald Trump to pursue fair and mutually beneficial trade agreements.The letter highlighted their concerns that the long-term impacts of the escalating trade conflict between China and the United States will create irredeemable economic harm to employers, workers, residents and international partnerships along the West Coast and throughout the entire country.“The chaos of the current trade war is one of the most prominent risks ahead. Exporters are losing market opportunities through increased tariffs on sales to China.

Commodity trading company Vitol and the Mozambican state-owned oil and gas company ENH have formed ENH Energy Trading, a partnership focused on trading oil products.The Dutch energy and commodity trading company said in a press note that ENH Energy Trading will initially be owned 51% by ENH and 49% by Vitol. It is anticipated ENH’s share will increase over time.ENH Energy Trading will focus on energy commodities, in particular LNG, LPG and condensate, enabling ENH to create additional value and develop expertise in trading energy commodities.Mozambique has an estimated 125 TCF of technically recoverable gas resources. In addition to using these resources to fuel domestic energy demand…

French shipping line CMA CGM has launched Shipfin Trade Finance (STF) , its new range of financing services dedicated to importing and exporting, in partnership with invoice finance platform Incomlend.The STF portfolio of products is, according to the carrier, “simple, reliable and rapid,” offering importers and exporters tailored financial solutions ranging from extended payment terms to financing advances.CMA CGM Group further explained that it wants to support its customers’ business through financing solutions tailored to their needs. The Group is putting its expertise and presence in 160 countries around the world at the service of its customers’ international development."With a dedicated team of experts based in the Group’s headquarters in Marseille…