Iron ore recovers as Chinese buyers cautiously return
2014-03-27 12:04Spot iron ore rose more than 1 percent as Chinese buyers, encouraged by firmer steel prices, picked up cargoes and helped the raw material recover further from a sharp fall earlier this month. But buyers were largely timid, traders said, with many still wary of stocking up on iron ore at ...
Long-troubled shippers have that sinking feeling
2014-03-26 11:53Hanjin Shipping and Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM), Korea’s top two maritime shippers, are becoming troublemakers within their groups as liquidity crises create a drag on overall business. Both shippers have been in the red for the past three years, along with the rest of the industry. Han ...
Will the Panama Canal Expansion Be Complete Before 2016?
2014-03-26 11:52A Panama Canal expansion, scheduled for completion by December, 2015, may not meet its deadline, says a new American Farm Bureau Focus on Agriculture feature. Writer Stewart Truelsen for AFBF says almost all work on the canal was suspended at the beginning of the year, with the exception ...
New Market Research Report: Oman Shipping Report Q2 2014
2014-03-19 11:49Oman continues to develop into a regional powerhouse for the shipping and transhipment of dry bulk goods such as iron ore. To this end a new port is being constructed at Duqm and new cargo terminals at Salalah and Sohar. The new Duqm port will also boast a new oil refinery. Further port developm ...
China March steel prices at 8-year low after production surge – CISA
2014-03-19 11:49Chinese steel prices fell to their lowest level in more than eight years in mid-March as a result of weak demand and a surge in output, the country’s steel association said in its monthly market report on Tuesday. The China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) said that by the second w ...
Sentiment diverges from fundamentals on China commodity imports: Clyde Russell
2014-03-17 11:52The reaction of commodities to the Chinese trade data show that sentiment and fundamentals are diverging, with the fear trade winning so far. No matter which way you try and slice and dice it, China’s imports of commodities in the first two months of the year have been surprisingly ...
Ton Mile Trader: Dry Bulk Weekly
2014-03-17 11:51The week began on sour note before the US market even opened as the “paper market” of the FFA’s was being rattled as iron ore futures crashed the forward curve up to $8 at nearby segments and $10 spot. The Cape forward curve followed into the abyss as would be expected given that hauling iron or ...
China Steel Mills Slide as Credit Squeeze, Iron Ore Panic Grips
2014-03-13 11:50Chinese steel companies, the world’s largest, helped drive a regional industry benchmark index to a seven-month low as concern builds that some mills face financial difficulty amid a government credit squeeze. “They are having trouble accessing finance,” Yunde Li, chairman of Ishine, a un ...
ASIA PANAMAX DRY: Panamax coal freight rates steady, but on shaky ground
2014-03-13 11:49The Panamax coal freight market was mostly flat, with tonnage leaving the Pacific to pick up grain cargoes emerging from east coast South America preventing rates from falling Wednesday, market participants said. The Panamax coal freight market was supported Wednesday by thin tonnage espe ...
Seaborne Iron Ore Prices Showing Little Chance of Early Reversal
2014-03-11 15:38The price of iron ore, China’s biggest import commodity by volume, has lost 6 percent since mid-February as benchmark 62% grade iron ore for immediate delivery to China fell to $116.80 a metric ton just last week, according to Reuters. That was the lowest level since June 28, with the pri ...
