The European Commission on Monday raised its forecast for European Union stocks of common wheat, or soft wheat, at the end of the 2023/24 season as upward revisions to harvest production and imports boosted supply. In monthly supply and demand data for cereal and oilseed crops, the Commission increased its projection of EU soft wheat stocks at the end of 2023/24 to 19.1 million metric tons from 18.4 million forecast in December, though that was still below last season’s 19.4 million
The Red Sea crisis has seen ocean freight rates increase faster than the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic as swathes of shippers are told some of their contracts will not be honored. Xeneta, the leading ocean freight rate benchmarking and intelligence platform, has released data which reveals shipping costs on key trades from the Far East to Europe spiked more than 200% in the first 52 days of the Red Sea crisis. This outpaces the increase in rates seen
Iron ore is having a strong start to the year, with rising prices and robust imports by China, sparked by optimism the world’s largest buyer of the steel raw material is adding enough stimulus to boost demand. The optimism in the past week has consigned China’s soft steel production data for December to memory, with both sentiment and fundamentals supporting the iron ore market. Iron ore contracts traded in Singapore SZZFc1 ended at $135.31 a metric ton on Jan. 26, posting
The role of alternative fuels in powering the low-carbon economy will dramatically increase volumes of renewable ammonia, outstripping growing volumes of renewable methanol. In a new Foresight article, Maritime Strategies International predicts that the next 25 years are likely to see ammonia trade transformed with clean ammonia providing new demand for close to 400 very large gas carriers, compared to a current fleet of 375 focused on carrying LPG. In contrast, though a requirement for around 215 methanol carriers will be
Real-world performance data compiled from ships applied with International® brand Intersleek® 1100SR over the past 10 years shows the coating has slashed ship fuel bills by $8 billion and reduced 41 million tonnes of CO2 emissions. The world-leading biocide-free, foul release coating revolutionised the coatings industry when it was launched by AkzoNobel in 2013, and has been applied to more than 3,000 vessels since then. Due to the high performance of the biocide free technology, demand has risen steeply in the past
DP World, a leading provider of global end-to-end supply chain solutions, is increasing its financial incentive by almost 50 per cent for customers taking advantage of its ‘Modal Shift Programme’. The scheme was introduced in September last year and is designed to increase the attractiveness of intermodal rail for customers through carefully considered financial incentives. The Modal Shift Programme, which is being trialled at DP World Southampton for 12 months, initially offered £70 to customers who move import-laden containers via rail
