Spain's Energy Firms Look to Central Europe Markets for Green Hydrogen Deals
Spanish oil company Cepsa signed on Wednesday two agreements aimed at shipping green hydrogen between Spain and the Netherlands, a day after renewable energy giant Iberdrola took a similar step.The two Spanish companies are vying to become green hydrogen leaders, with planned investments worth billions of euros. The recent agreements will help them sell part of their expected production of green hydrogen and derivatives to industrial customers eager to decarbonize in Europe's economic powerhouse…
Global Shipping Meltdown Impacts European Banks
The collapsing maritime shipping industry is stoking another European banking headache, this time in economic powerhouse Germany, says a report in WSJ. While the Commerzbank, Germany’s second largest bank, reported earnings, warned that its losses on shipping loans could be as high as EUR600 million ($641 million) this year after nearly doubling last year to EUR559 million. Stephan Engels, Commerzbank’s chief financial officer (CFO) admitted that there was little immediate prospect of recovery. “Our view for 2017 is just as critical as it was for 2016, as far as shipping overall is concerned,” he said. “We still have -particularly for container ships – more new vessels coming on to the market than are being scrapped.
Trade Promotion Authority Means Business
Eddy Hayes, Chairman of the Board of Directors, World Trade Center of New Orleans, and Gary LaGrange, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Port of New Orleans, discuss New Orleans’ role as a key U.S. port city and address opportunities for trade expansion. As New Orleans approaches her 2018 tricentennial we are reminded of New Orleans’ metamorphosis from accidental trading post to key port city. New Orleans has always been a port city, whether feeding the westward expansion of our nascent country through the Mississippi River…
Tough Line on Shipping Loans: ECB
ECB in discussion with German supervisors; question over treatment of ship loans in health check. Compromise emerging which may involve 'haircut' on loan valuations. The European Central Bank is taking a hard line on the controversial issue of how shipping loans should be valued in a wide-ranging review into the health of the euro zone's banks, several sources familiar with the matter said. The ECB is making sure the euro zone's most important banks have properly valued their assets and have enough capital to withstand future crises so it can begin with a clean sheet when it takes over as their supervisor from Nov 4. In the past, critics said national supervisors overlooked or even tolerated warning signs of potential shortfalls at banks for fear of causing upsets.
Editor's Note
Most of you might naturally assume that this is a recent quote from a high ranking shipyard, government or other informed source regarding the current status of the U.S. marine industry. Wrong! This quote is attributed to the opinion of Captain C.A. McAllister, president of the American Bureau of Shipping, published in the January 1, 1928 edition of Marine Age magazine. This, and something my five-year-old son said recently, struck a chord within me regarding the challenges facing the U.S. ship and boatbuilding industry. Upon coming home from the beach one hot August day, Shane, upon inspecting his “Adidas” sandals, said, “It says that these were made in Indonesia ... I thought everything was made in China.” From the mouths of babes.
