In light of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy in Qingdao, east China’s Shandong Province, on April 23, 2019, Chinese President and Central Military Commission Chairman Xi Jinping conducted a group meeting focusing on the importance of maritime peace and a future maritime community.
China COSCO Shipping Corporations (COSCOCS) conducted a naming ceremony for its sixth Valemax very large ore carrier (VLOC) in Yangzhou on Thursday, April 18. The 400,000 dwt ‘Yuan Shen Hai’ is one of ten VLOCs Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding (SWS) will deliver to COSCO under a contract 2016.
Mohammad Rastad, Iran’s Deputy Minister of Roads and Urban Development, is in talks with Vietnamese officials with the aim of improving trade and connectivity capacities between the two countries. The first meeting between Iran and Vietnam Maritime cooperation group will take place in Tehran at the end of 2019, as reported by Mohammad Rastad.
Bahri, the National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia announced its plans to expand its presence in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region market. The decision follows the company’s long term strategy to expand. The announcement was made at a ceremony that took place in Singapore in April.
The composite index decreased 0.3% this week, but increased by 12.8% when compared with same period of 2018. The Index, a composite of container freight rates on 8 major routes to/from the US, Europe and Asia is down 0.3% to $1,330.29 per 40ft container, as of 18 April.
China decided to restrict its coal imports in 2019 in less than 2018’s levels. Drewry supports that this decision will dent demand for Panamaxes, but an ongoing tussle with Australia could be the silver lining. The Chinese government aims to curb the coal imports by 3-4% in 2019. This could result to a decline of approximately 10 million tonnes.
The European Council voted to begin talks concerning the Trans-Atlantic Investment Partnership (TTIP), revealing the possibility that the US and EU could sign a new trade deal. The vote took place on April 15, and was passed despite France opposing to the US’s position on climate change, and specifically President Trump’s decision to be excluded from the Paris Agreement.
Wallem’s CEO, Frank Coles, announced the company’s new strategy; the new CEO aims to harness the latest technology in order to enhance asset management transparency and efficiency in a program intended to transform the relationship between owners and their ships.
Based on an analysis conducted by the Illinois Soybean Association (ISA), Asian countries, being led by Indonesia are expressing an increased demand on shipping containers to transmit their US soybeans purchases. The soybean marketing year begins on September 1 and ends August 31.
The Port of Oakland announced that it will add new, directive service to Vietnam by late April. Pacific International Lines (PIL) will launch direct Vietnam links using vessels that can carry up to 11,900 twenty-foot containers. PIL’s new service is called AC5 and is in partnership with Cosco and Wan Hai.
