INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING INDUSTRY
Trafigura ships more Asian gasoline to Americas on new tanker
Commodity trader Trafigura is shipping this month a second newly built crude tanker with Asian gasoline onboard to South America amid strong demand in the West, four industry sources who closely monitor petrol trade flows said on Thursday.
Although it is not uncommon for traders to use a brand new crude tanker of 150,000 deadweight tonnage (dwt) to ship clean fuels such as diesel, it is rare to use them for gasoline because of the sheer size.
Ship tracking data from Refinitiv shows the ‘Marlin Seoul’ vessel is en route to Balboa in Panama from South Korea.
The Suezmax was delivered only this month and was built in South Korea by Hyundai Heavy Industries Co Ltd.
The ship is owned by Trafigura and is carrying more than 900,000 barrels of gasoline, one of the four sources said.
Marlin Seoul is expected to arrive in Balboa on April 21, while its Marlin Swan, which sailed off earlier from
South Korea, is likely to reach Balboa around April 9, data from Refinitiv ship tracking shows.
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S Korean shipbuilders burdened by debt payment since 2013
South Korean shipbuilding companies have been struggling to make interest payments on their outstanding debt since 2013 due to a years long recession in the global market, a central bank report showed Thursday.
The interest coverage rate, which measures the ability of a company to meet interest expenses, has been below the benchmark 100 percent line since 2013, according to the Financial Stability Report by the Bank of Korea (BOK).
It was 2,128 percent in 2008 just before the global financial crisis but sharply dropped to the below-zero territory in 2013, bottoming at minus 604 in 2015.
If a company has an interest coverage rate of 100 percent or lower, it is unable to pay its debt using its earnings.
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Newcastle coal edges down amid Chinese customs delays
Pacific basin coal prices have softened over the past week amid Chinese customs delays for Australian exports and seasonal pressures on demand, though one analyst saw a recovery ahead.
Global Coal’s Newcastle index was down 1percent on the week at USD 90.21/t.
On Monday, the benchmark for high grade (6,000 kcal/kg) Australian coal deliveries to North East Asia again briefly dipped below USD 90/t to around its lowest level in two years.
Delays at Chinese customs for Australian coal were forcing traders to find other markets, with few options readily at hand, said Lloyd Hain, director of AME Group consulting.
It expected overall Chinese coal consumption to remain “basically stable” this year as the government
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Australia’s iron ore ports reopen after cyclone; FMG rail operations to resume
Western Australia’s iron ore export ports of Port Hedland and Port Dampier have reopened, while Fortescue Metals Group expects to resume its rail operations Wednesday after a cyclone caused havoc to the export chain recently.
The Port of Dampier was reopened at 6:00 am Australian Western standard time on Wednesday with normal operations having resumed. It was closed for 132 hours, the Pilbara Ports Authority said Wednesday.
Port Hedland had reopened at 09:00 am AWST on Tuesday after being closed for 92.5 hours, the Pilbara Ports Authority said.
Fortescue said on Wednesday that it recommenced shipments from Port Hedland on Tuesday afternoon using inventory at the port.
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Container market reels from quiet q1; volatility looms
The container market around the world, especially on ex-North Asia head hauls, has seen some significant downside over the first quarter of the year, largely after the Lunar New Year holidays — typically a quiet period for the container market.
This has however had big ramifications for annual deal-making with carriers negotiating rates at a weak point in the market, which is likely to add downward pressure in an already uncertain market, especially ahead of the International Maritime Organization’s 2020 global sulfur cap.
Q1 has seen rates plummet on the whole, with Chinese New Year and the associated lull in exports from Asia largely to blame for the fall, which has continued into March as the behemoth of Chinese industry gently cranks back into life after the New Year celebrations.
This quarter has also been marred by geopolitical issues, with US-China tariffs expected to come into force at the start of the year prompting significant front-loading of imports on trans-Pacific eastbound routes. However, these tariffs were subsequently delayed until March and then, as the curtains drew on February, extended again, potentially paving the road for a last-minute restocking of an already well supplied US market.