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Trade Ministry News

01 Mar 2024

New US Sanctions More Likely to Curb Indian Imports of Russian Coal

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New U.S. sanctions on Moscow are more likely than previous ones to cut Indian imports of thermal coal from Russia because they specifically cite top exporters SUEK and Mechel, three major traders of Russian coal said.Russia, historically a minor exporter of the fuel to India, began boosting shipments to the south Asian country after Western sanctions against Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.The latest U.S. sanctions also include Russia's payment system, financial institutions and energy production."With the new sanctions…

27 Apr 2022

Indonesia Deploys Navy Ships to Thwart Ilegal Shipments of Refined Palm Oil

For illustration only - An Indonesian Navy vessel - ©Reezky/AdobeStock

Indonesia deployed navy ships and hundreds of personnel on Wednesday, including intelligence assets, in an effort to thwart illegal shipments of refined palm oil olein, just hours away from an export ban aimed at taming surging cooking oil prices.The new rules were due to take effect at midnight local time (1700 GMT), and the navy and other agencies had been instructed to step up patrols of Indonesian waters to ensure compliance, said navy spokesperson Julius Widjojono.Palm oil futures on the Malaysia exchange surged by 9.8% on Wednesday…

18 Jan 2022

Indonesia: 48 Coal Vessels So Far Released for Export

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/AdobeStock

Indonesia has so far allowed 48 coal export vessels to depart, a senior Trade Ministry official said on Tuesday, although the country's broader coal export ban remains in place until the end of the month.The world's biggest thermal coal exporter implemented an export ban on Jan.

07 Jan 2022

Insights: How Indonesia, the World's Top Thermal Coal Exporter, Hit a Supply Crunch

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Indonesia, the world's biggest thermal coal exporter, sent shockwaves through global energy markets this week by suspending exports of the fuel in January due to critically low coal supplies at domestic power plants.WHY DID INDONESIAN AUTHORITIES DECIDE TO ACT?Coal makes up around 60% of Indonesia's energy mix and its energy ministry said by the start of 2022 only 35,000 tonnes of coal had been delivered to state power firm PLN.PLN had secured 13.9 million tonnes by Wednesday but needs another six million tonnes to ensure a 20-day stock level of 20 million tonnes.

05 Jan 2022

Indonesia Talks on Coal Exports Put Off as Scores of Ships in Limbo

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Indonesian authorities on Wednesday postponed a meeting with coal miners to discuss a ban on coal exports, as scores of ships moored off the coast due to load remained in limbo.The world's top exporter of thermal coal and China's largest overseas supplier on Saturday announced a ban on exports in January to avoid outages at its own generators.The ban sent thermal coal futures in China surging reflecting concerns it could threaten energy security in some of the world's biggest…

03 Jan 2022

Indonesian Coal Export Ban Rattles a Sector

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The world's leading exporter of thermal coal on Saturday banned the shipments because of concerns it could not meet its own power demand, prompting President Joko Widodo on Monday to threaten to revoke business permits for any miners who failed to meet domestic market requirements.In turn, Indonesian coal miners want a quick resolution as fuel prices rise and and potential disruptions to the energy supplies of some of the world's biggest economies loom.The wider risk is of a knock-on impact on economic linchpins China…

07 Dec 2021

Moscow Eyes Ban on Foreign Ships Carrying Russian Fuel via Northern Sea Route

Credit: Mikhail Perfilov

Russia is considering banning foreign vessels from shipping Russian energy cargoes via the Northern Sea Route, as well as from icebreaking and coastal navigation, the Kommersant newspaper reported on Tuesday citing a draft government resolution.The step, proposed by the Industry and Trade Ministry, would restrict vessels built outside Russia on the Northern Sea Route that Moscow wants to become a major shipping lane as the Arctic warms at a faster rate than the rest of the world.The ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Kommersant reported that the ministry on Nov.

02 Aug 2020

South Korea's July Exports Record Slowest Decline in Four Months

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South Korean exports fell the slowest in four months and beat market expectations, data showed on Saturday, a further sign a recovery in Asia’s fourth-largest economy is gaining traction, although threats loom from global flare-ups in the COVID-19 pandemic.Overseas sales fell 7.0% in July from a year earlier, the trade ministry said, the fifth month of decline but much less than June’s 10.9% fall and the 9.7% drop tipped in a Reuters survey.South Korea is the first major exporting economy to release monthly trade data…

14 May 2020

Japan Spot LNG Import Prices Hit Record Low

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Prices for spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes imported into Japan, the world's biggest buyer of the fuel, fell in April to their lowest since the country's trade ministry started compiling data in 2014. The latest low for LNG cargoes into Japan - reflecting actual prices paid rather than those derived from surveys or indices - highlights the evisceration of demand for gas, along with other commodities, brought about by the coronavirus pandemic. The outbreak has turned markets on their heads, with U.S.

15 Apr 2020

India's March Exports Down 34.6% Y/Y

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India's merchandise exports shrank by more than one-third from a year ago, dragged down by a fall in global demand and shipments due to the outbreak of coronavirus, the Trade Ministry said in a statement said on Wednesday.Merchandise exports fell to $21.41 billion in March compared with a year earlier, while imports were down 28.72% to $31.16 billion, the data showed.(Reporting by Aftab Ahmed and Manoj Kumar; Editing by Alex Richardson)

18 Mar 2020

Indonesia Revokes Rule Requiring Domestic Ships for Some Exports

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Indonesia's government will revoke rules requiring exporters of coal and palm oil to use domestic shipping companies for shipments, Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Investment Affairs Luhut Pandjaitan told reporters on Wednesday.Indonesia, the world's biggest thermal coal exporter, issued regulations in 2018 requiring its coal and palm oil exporters to use domestic shipping companies, which were due to come into force this May.The government has since concluded that the rule would be disruptive for exports and President Joko Widodo has ordered it to be revoked…

08 May 2019

China Iron Ore Imports Fall, Brazil Shipments Slide

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China's iron ore imports in April fell to the lowest level in 18 months as poor weather in Brazil, the country's second-biggest supplier, disrupted shipments and some production by miner Vale SA was halted after a mine accident.Arrivals of iron ore, a key steelmaking raw material, were 80.77 million tonnes last month, the lowest since October 2017, data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Wednesday. That compares to 86.42 million tonnes in March and 82.92 million tonnes in April 2018.For the first four months of 2019…

26 Apr 2019

Philippines Shipyard Sale Open to All

All offers from potential buyers of a strategically located but debt-laden Philippine shipyard will be welcome, the trade minister said on Thursday, ruling out barring Chinese firms over national security fears.Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said the government would not, and could not, block interested buyers of distressed shipbuilder Hanjin Philippines, which defaulted on $1.3 billion in loans, of which $900 million is owed to South Korean banks and the rest to five Philippine lenders.Hanjin, a unit of South Korea's Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Co Ltd, until recently employed 20,000 workers at its yard in Subic Bay, which until 1992 was home to a U.S.

16 Dec 2018

India's Sagarmala Completes 89 Projects

Sagarmala Programme, an initiative of Government of India to enhance the performance of logistics sector in India, saw the completion of 89 projects, while 443 projects worth USD 5.9 bln are under various stages of implementation and development.SagarmalaProgrammeaims  to promote port-led development with a view to reducing logistics cost for EXIM and domestic trade.Ministry of Shipping, along with the State Governments are striving to increase the overall port capacity to 3500+ million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA) to cater to the projected traffic of 2500 MMTPA by 2025.Towards this end, 249 port modernization projects have been identified.

01 Nov 2018

No Waiver for Japan on Iran Sanctions

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Japan said on Thursday it had not yet been granted a waiver from a U.S. plan to reimpose sanctions aimed at cutting Iran out of international markets, while the top two customers for Iranian oil, China and India, were awaiting word on possible exemptions.The United States has said it is considering waivers on sanctions for countries that are reducing their imports of Iranian oil. The renewed U.S. sanctions on Iran are set to come into effect on Nov. 4."Japan-U.S. talks have been conducted four times so far on U.S.

09 Aug 2018

Japan Spot LNG Contract Price Hits 5-month High

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The average contract price for spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes for shipment to Japan last month hit a five-month high of $10.00 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), Japan's trade ministry data showed on Thursday.Asian spot LNG prices held around $10 last month as a heatwave gripped Japan and high temperatures swept across South Korea and parts of China, boosting cooling demand.The average price of spot LNG cargoes that arrived in Japan last month was $10.30 per mmBtu.METI surveys spot LNG cargoes bought by Japanese utilities and other importers…

01 May 2018

South Korea's April Exports Fall Unexpectedly

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South Korean exports declined in April for the first time in 18 months, unable to keep up with 2017’s brisk pace as global demand softened, adding to worries about the country’s trade outlook amid the risk of a deepening U.S-China trade conflict.Exports fell 1.5 percent to $50.1 billion from a year earlier, marking the first decline since October 2016 when shipments fell 3.2 percent, government data showed on Tuesday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 4.1 percent growth.Imports increased 14.5 percent to $43.4 billion…

03 Apr 2018

Indonesia to Postpone New Coal, Palm Oil Shipping Rules to 2020

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Indonesia will postpone until 2020 trade rules requiring exporters of coal and crude palm oil to use only Indonesian-flagged vessels, Industry Minister Airlangga Hartarto said, among efforts to increase foreign exchange reserves. The rules, due to take effect this month and intended to boost the archipelago's shipping industry, were initially postponed in February after raising concerns in coal and palm oil industries over the availability of local vessels. "The timing will be adjusted…

27 Feb 2018

Indonesia Delays New Rules to Limit Coal, Palm Oil Shipments

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Indonesia has postponed indefinitely the application of new rules that would limit shipments of coal and palm oil exports to only national shipping companies, a Coordinating Economic Ministry official said on Tuesday. The rule will only be applied once vessel requirements have been calculated and satisfied by the trade ministry, shipping industry and coal and palm oil exporters, Elen Setiadi, acting chief of trade and industry at the Coordinating Economic Ministry, told Reuters by phone.

01 Sep 2017

Brazil's 20% Ethanol Import Tax Rule Takes Effect

New rules governing Brazil's ethanol imports, which slap a 20 percent penalty for volumes above a tax-free import quota, took effect on Friday, authorities said. Brazil's foreign trade chamber Camex said in an official written resolution that the rules will be valid for two years. It is the first time that Brazil has taxed ethanol imports, with the government reversing its position of avoiding taxes on the biofuel's trade, following complaints from local producers about rising imports. The government had opposed an import tax so as to encourage use of the biofuel worldwide, enabling it to boost exports of the fuel, a stance it shared with the United States. U.S. producers will be the hardest hit by the Brazilian tax, since almost all imports come from the United States.

06 Jun 2017

Egypt Imposes Tariffs on Chinese, Turkish and Ukrainian Steel

Egypt has imposed temporary import tariffs on steel from China, Turkey and Ukraine, the trade ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. The tariff will be set at 17 percent for Chinese steel, 10-19 percent for Turkish steel, and 15-27 percent for Ukrainian steel, it said. "The decision comes following a thorough study...and is intended to protect local manufacturing from harmful practices by imported alternatives," Trade Minister Tarek Kabil said in the statement.   (Reporting by Eric Knecht and Arwa Gaballa)

16 Nov 2016

Japan Starts Probe of LNG Shipping Restrictions

Japan's Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) has ordered the country's liquefied natural gas (LNG) buyers to provide details on contract requirements that prevent them from reselling the fuel to third parties, according to a source with direct knowledge of the inquiry. The move suggests the powerful anti-monopoly regulator has launched a formal investigation into whether the so-called destination clauses limit competition and could lead to hundreds of billions of dollars LNG contracts being renegotiated. Japan, the world's biggest LNG buyer, and other Asian buyers have complained that the long-established practice of adding the clauses to LNG contracts places unfair restrictions on trading the fuel when it would make more economic sense to sell to other markets.

31 Oct 2016

Korea Mulls New Ship Financing Company

Reuters report quoting South Korea government sources that the country is planning  to establish a state-backed ship financing company with an initial capital of 1 trillion won ($871.73 million) to help improve the financial health of Korean shipping companies. The government would provide financing of 6.5 trillion won ($5.67 billion) in total so that local shipping firms could acquire new vessels. New vessel orders won by South Korean shipbuilders between January-September fell by 87 percent compared to the same period in the previous year. The government has announced measures to support struggling local shipbuilding and shipping industries following the collapse of Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd, which applied for court receivership in August.