Panamax index looking bearish
The Panamax index is now on the lower range support and at major Fibonacci level. Technically bearish the index needs to see a close above US$10,261 for the trend to be considered as turning. However, and early signal would come from a close above US$10,089 as this would be a three-day high.
The June futures remain technically bearish and are now testing the recent lows within a range, which is putting a neutral bias on the bearish trend. The stochastic is showing a bullish divergence indicating downside momentum could be slowing. However, this needs to be confirmed by bullish price action and is not a buy signal on its own. Upside price action in the Q3 futures is bullish but has stalled at the 55 period MA with the stochastic at 88.
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Shipping freight market revives
The shipping freight market is turning the corner, and the worst seems behind it. The freight market is here to stay firm, at least for some time, say analysts. From next year, however, new regulations being implemented might have some implication for the industry.
Indian companies have a large share of tankers in their fleet, so their revival is yet to come. The shipping sector will now see fortunes turning better for them. Freight-charter rates have seen an increase of 35 percent in the dry-bulk segment, while the container segment has also seen a 30-35 per cent rise.
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Long beach container volume creeps up
Long Beach container volumes converged with those of big brother Los Angeles as the smaller port’s volumes grew 10.8 per cent year on year in April to 618,438 TEU as LA’s April throughput shrunk 1.3 percent to 705,536 TEU.
Four months into 2018, the Port of Long Beach has moved 2.5 million TEU, an amount more than 17 per cent above last year’s record pace. Long Beach imports grew 8.4 per cent to 312,376 TEU compared to last April.
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Russia’s June ESPO blend crude exports fall
Russia’s exports of the medium sweet ESPO Blend crude in June are expected to total 2.4 million mt, down 7.69 percent from May, according to the latest monthly loading program seen by S&P Global Platts.
ESPO Blend’s June program runs from May 30 to July 1 and will comprise 24 cargoes of 100,000 mt each, according to the program. This was similar to the May loading program which runs from April 30 to June 1. The June loading rate will average 533,091 b/d, down from 577,515 b/d scheduled for May.
According to the program, state-owned Rosneft holds five cargoes for June down from 11 in May including those that are being marketed by CEFC, while CEFC will hold four cargoes separately.
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Indonesia to import 11m barrels of gasoline in June
Indonesia’s state-owned Pertamina plans to import around 11 million barrels of gasoline in June, similar to estimated imports for May, as it continues to stock up during the Ramazan peak demand period, market sources said Wednesday.
Pertamina’s gasoline imports for May were estimated at around 10.5 million barrels. Market watchers were unable to provide a breakdown of volumes between the three grades of 88 RON, 92 RON and 95 RON. Pertamina could not be reached for comment. The company late Tuesday issued a tender seeking 1 million barrels of 92 RON gasoline in five 200,000-barrel clips for loading over June 2-13 from Singapore or Malaysia.
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Shipping’s financiers turning the tide on shipbreaking practices
The shipping industry has long been criticized by campaigners for allowing vessels to be broken up on beaches, endangering workers and polluting the sea and sand. Now, it is being called to account from a quarter that may have a bit more clout – its financial backers.
Norway’s $1 trillion Oil Fund, a leader in ethical investing, in February sold its stake in four firms because they scrap on the beach.
Three of the firms excluded by Norway’s fund – Taiwan’s Evergreen Marine, Precious Shipping and Thoresen Thai Agencies (TTA) of Thailand – say they have been unfairly singled out. The fourth, Korea Line, declined to comment. Norwegian life insurer KLP soon followed, selling shares in the one of the four it owned and blacklisting the other three.
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Power sector’s thirst for fuel oil traders
Fuel oil traders are turning to the power sector to assess how much demand may remain for their product after the International Maritime Organization’s tighter bunker sulfur limits leave most ship operators buying cleaner fuels in 2020.
Only about 10-15 percent of the fleet are expected to have scrubbers installed that would then allow shipowners to burn 3.5 percent fuel oil, according to a study from consultants CE Delft.
Bunker fuel demand is currently estimated at over 300 million mt/year globally, according to industry estimates. From the CE Delft study, commissioned as part of the sulfur proposal’s mandatory review, the IMO predicts that heavy fuel oil-based products will make up around 84 percent of the bunker market in 2020, out of about 320 million mt annually, of which 233 million mt will be 0.50 percent compliant fuel oil.
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India’s major ports thermal coal shipments grow 24pc
The Indian government’s 12 major ports handled 9.71 million mt of thermal coal in April, the first month of the current fiscal year 2018-19, up 24 percent year on year, Indian Ports Association data released last week showed.
The 12 ports received shipment of 4.2 million mt of coking coal in April, down 7 percent year on year, the data showed. Paradip port on the east coast handled the highest volume of thermal coal in April at 3.02 million mt, up 34 percent from a year ago. Kolkata port, also on the east coast, handled the highest volume of coking coal at around 1.25 million mt during the period under review, up from 822,000 mt from the same month a year ago.