Latest Maritime News
February 25-March 11, 2019
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U.S. Will Soon Export More Oil, Liquids Than Saudi Arabia
In a pivotal geopolitical shift, the United States will soon export more oil and liquids than Saudi Arabia. This remarkable turnaround is made possible by the continued rise in oil production from US shale plays and the increased oil export capacity from the Gulf Coast.
The U.S. has for decades relied on large-scale imports to satisfy its thirst for oil, but this is about to change. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported last week that the United States exported more crude and petroleum products than it imported. Granted, the EIA followed up with a report this week that U.S. crude oil stocks had risen by 7.1 million barrels in a week, driven by a renewed appetite among U.S. refineries for imported heavy crude oil. However, for the rest of the year, U.S. exports will grow fast with increasingly attractive price spreads, while U.S. demand for imported heavy oil should again diminish.
Continue reading here
(Source: Oil Price).
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U.S., China Said Near Deal That Could End Most U.S. Tariffs
A senior Chinese trade official called on Saturday for a compromise between the United States and China that could make a trade deal easier to reach this spring. But it could also lead to a more fragile agreement, which could fall apart quickly should trade frictions rise again.
Over the past year, the most contentious issue in the countries’ trade talks has been the Trump administration’s demand for what it calls an enforcement provision, which would allow the United States to monitor China’s behavior and put penalties in place if the Chinese violated the deal.
The Trump administration has pressed China to accept an agreement allowing the United States to unilaterally reimpose tariffs if it concludes that China has not gone through with structural changes to its economy. In the past month, the administration has also pushed for a broader enforcement mechanism, which would include the right to reimpose tariffs for any category of goods in which imports from China surge.
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(
Source: The New York Times).
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Container Lines Face 'Daunting Challenge' From IMO 2020
Another analyst has warned of impending financial doom for container lines if they fail to recoup the additional costs of meeting the IMO 2020 0.5% sulphur cap.
AlixPartners estimates container lines could be looking an additional $10bn in fuel costs, based on 2018 prices for low sulphur fuel oil (LFSO), to comply with the sulphur cap.
In a report the analyst said that carriers would face a “daunting challenge” from the IMO 2020 regulations. The choice of lines is either burn LFSO or marine gas oil (MGO), significantly more expensive than high sulphur fuel oil (HFO) used at present, or install scrubbers. However, in the case of the latter solution concern was noted among lines over the supply scrubbers not being able to meet demand.
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(Source: Seatrade Maritime News).
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Winners And Losers: Sulphur Switch May Be A ‘Windfall’ For Charter Market
MSC, Maersk, Cosco and CMA CGM are among ocean carriers that expect to temporarily increase their capacity this year to mitigate the downtime as ships are retrofitted with scrubbers, or for the decontamination of tanks to accommodate compliant fuels, ahead of IMO 2020.
Notwithstanding seasonal supply and demand drivers, containership owners are anticipating a charter market boost in the second half of the year, as operators prepare for the introduction of the IMO’s 0.5% global sulphur limit on 1 January next year.
“Anticipated slow-steaming and redesigning of liner networks, ahead of the implementation of new restrictions on sulphur emissions in 2020, together with vessels exiting service to be fitted with scrubbers, are all positive supply side developments that may lead to improved charter rates,” he said.
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(Source: gCaptain).
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Compliant Fuel or Scrubbers?
Implementation of the IMO's 0.50% sulphur limit for fuel oil is presenting one of the most significant challenges to all stakeholders in the marine fuel oil market - from producer to user. The transition period has started; decisions must be made, and implementation plans need to be drawn up.
Tim Wilson, Principal Specialist on fuels, lubes and exhaust emissions at Lloyd's Register, argues that while options at this stage are clear - compliant fuel oil or high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) in conjunction with exhaust-gas cleaning systems (scrubbers) - the right choice is less obvious and must be evaluated based on each ship 's specific operation and risk criteria.
"Whether choosing compliant fuel or scrubbers, planning is critical to meeting the sulphur 2020 deadline successfully," he says.
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(Source: CPL).
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The Numbers Are In: U.S. Maritime Workforce Grows to 650,000, Contributing $154 Billion Annually
The U.S. maritime industry now employees nearly 650,000 Americans with jobs across all 50 states and contributes $154 billion to the nation’s economic growth annually, according to new economic and jobs data released by Transportation Institute (TI), a leading maritime association and advocacy group for national maritime policy in the United States.
Following last month’s news of 304,000 U.S. jobs created in January, the Transportation Institute on Monday announced a 30% increase in domestic maritime job creation enabled by the Jones Act, the U.S. requiring the transportation of goods between two U.S. points is carried out by American built, owned, and crewed vessels.
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(Source: gCaptain).
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Current Price Indications
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