Trade News

Three cabinet-level South Korean officials met U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in Washington for trade talks, Seoul said on Wednesday, as top business leaders were also reported to be flying in to help lobby for a deal on U.S. tariffs.South Korean Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol joined Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan and Minister for Trade Yeo Han-koo, who have been in Washington since last week, for two hours of talks with Lutnick, a ministry spokesperson said in Seoul.The finance ministry spokesperson did not offer details of the discussions. U.S.

U.S. and Chinese officials said on Tuesday they had agreed on a framework to get their trade truce back on track and remove China's export restrictions on rare earths while offering little sign of a durable resolution to longstanding trade tensions.At the end of two days of intense negotiations in London, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told reporters the framework deal puts "meat on the bones" of an agreement reached last month in Geneva to ease bilateral retaliatory tariffs…

The Federal Maritime Commission is conducting a nonadjudicatory investigation to examine whether the vessel flagging laws, regulations, or practices of certain foreign governments create unfavorable shipping conditions in the foreign trade of the United States. The investigation commences with a 90-day public comment period. The Commission is seeking examples of unfavorable flagging laws, regulations, and practices that endanger the efficiency and reliability of the ocean shipping supply chain.

The global economy is bracing for renewed turbulence following U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement on Wednesday of sweeping new tariffs, triggering fears of a global trade war and sparking immediate market and political reactions.According to the White House, the new measures include a 10% minimum tariff on most imported goods, with certain products - particularly those from major U.S. trade partners like China, South Korea, Japan, and the European Union - facing duties as high as 25%.

Chicago wheat futures were hesitant on Wednesday after Russia said that a number of conditions must be met before a Black Sea security deal with Ukraine can be activated, further questioning the agreement's impact on exports from the region.However, prospects that the deal would pause attacks at sea and on energy targets, along with favourable weather in the Black Sea region continued to pressure prices.The most-active wheat contract Wv1 on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was down 0.2% at $5.42-1/4 a bushel as of 1257 GMT.

Some shipping companies are discreetly moving operations out of Hong Kong and taking vessels off its flag registry. Others are making contingency plans to do so.Behind these low-profile moves, six shipping executives said, lie concerns that their ships could be commandeered by Chinese authorities or hit with U.S. sanctions in a conflict between Beijing and Washington.Beijing's emphasis on the role of Hong Kong in serving Chinese security interests and growing U.S. scrutiny of the importance of China's commercial fleet in a possible military clash…

“When a country that exports large quantities imposes tariffs, it risks working against its own interests,” says Stamatis Tsantanis, Chairman & CEO of Greek shipping companies Seanergy Maritime and Maritime United.“Other nations adjust by sourcing commodities elsewhere. For example, the first time President Trump imposed tariffs on various goods, China responded by rerouting its imports of maize, corn, and grains to countries like Brazil and other parts of Latin America,” he says.“From a trade perspective, this pattern remains consistent.

Donald Trump’s victory in the US Presidential Election is has importers on edge, fearing another spike in ocean container shipping freight rates premised on President Trump's vow on blanket tariffs of up to 20% on all imports into the US and additional tariffs of 60% to 100% on goods from China.Data from Xeneta shows the last time that President Trump ramped up tariffs on Chinese imports during the trade war in 2018, ocean container shipping freight rates spiked more than 70%.

The Danish government's new Africa Strategy offers significant opportunities for closer cooperation in trade, sustainable development and renewable energy, says Danish Shipping.The organization supports the strategy's overall objectives and simultaneously calls for a more concrete approach, especially concerning financing and trade."Africa has massive potential for renewable energy, which can play a key role in the future of green fuels for shipping. If we are to ensure the green transition, it is crucial that we strengthen cooperation on the development of these energy sources," says Anne H.

Peter Sand, the chief analyst of Xeneta discuss recent trends in the container shipping market, from plunging spot rates to blank sailings.The container shipping market has enjoyed a prolonged historic, and somewhat unexpected bull run, as COVID-induced consumer spending broadly switched from travel and entertainment to manufac-tured goods. But as COVID restrictions fade and inflation rages, the tides are changing, resulting in turmoil across many container shipping sectors.“Let’s focus on the Transpacific because that's where things are most crazy right now…

China and Russia have grown increasingly close in recent years, including as trading partners, a relationship that brings both opportunities and risks as Russia reels from tough new sanctions led by the West in response to its invasion of Ukraine.Total trade between China and Russia jumped 35.9% last year to a record $146.9 billion, according to Chinese customs data, with Russia serving as a major source of oil, gas, coal and agriculture commodities, running a trade surplus with China.Since sanctions were imposed in 2014 after Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea…

China has switched from driving global demand for major commodities to being a drag on growth, with July's customs data confirming the weakening trend for imports of crude oil, iron ore and copper.The exception to the trend was coal, but the sharp gain in July's imports of the polluting fuel are more a result of China having to go the seaborne market because of domestic policies that curbed local output.China, the world's biggest importer of crude oil, brought in 41.24 million tonnes in July, equivalent to 9.71 million barrels per day (bpd), according to official customs data released on Aug.

India's steel exports more than doubled between April and July to hit their highest level in at least six years, boosted by a surge of Chinese buying in defiance of tensions between Beijing and New Delhi.Traders said reduced prices had driven the purchases as Indian sellers sought to get rid of a surplus generated by the impact of COVID-19 on domestic demand and generate much-needed income.It was unclear whether the sales broke any trade rules, but the China Iron and Steel Association…

Ukraine's biggest grain traders agreed on Monday to an economy ministry proposal to limit wheat exports to 20.2 million tonnes in the 2019/20 season to avoid a rise in domestic bread prices.Although Ukraine is a major grain exporter and its harvest largely exceeds domestic consumption, the coronavirus pandemic has led some countries to consider feed export restrictions.Ukrainian bakers and millers last week asked the government to limit exports of grain and related products to…

Even before the effects of the coronavirus, the ‘Phase One’ agreement between China and the US failed to boost volumes of the implicated goods in January. In fact, exports of the manufactured, agricultural and energy goods included in the deal were down 26% from January 2017, which serves as the base year for the agreement.The ‘Phase One’ agreement which was signed on 15 January 2020 to lowered some US tariffs on imports from China, which in return has committed to increase its imports from the US.

The COVID-19 epidemic, which was first called the novel Coronavirus and then the 2019-nCoV, is spreading fast around the world. It is more contagious than the 2002 SARS outbreak, its cousin, but not as lethal. Unfortunately, its impact on the maritime community seems to already be greater than that of SARS.Ships are being required to submit Maritime Declarations of Health prior to arrival. Ships that called in Chinese ports during the previous 14 days or have persons on board…

France on Wednesday said it was imperative that negotiations over a future trade relationship between Britain and the European Union included customs checks in the Irish Sea.British Prime Minister Boris Johnson struck a divorce deal with the EU last October that leaves the United Kingdom's province of Northern Ireland inside the UK customs area but all EU procedures will apply to goods arriving there."There must be controls in the Irish Sea", France's junior minister for European…

The  global ocean transport operator AAL Shipping has launched a new Europe-Middle East/India-Asia Monthly Liner Service to serve the market’s multipurpose vessels (MPPs) and project heavy lift cargo transport requirements.The new service, which connects main ports between Europe, Middle East/India and Asia, harnesses AAL’s second generation 31,000-dwt mega-size A-Class fleet, renowned for its 40,000-cu m cargo intake capacity 700-tonne lift ability.The new liner service will follow a fixed route, with port call flexibility. Base ports will include Antwerp, Porto Marghera, Jebel Ali, Dammam, Mumbai, Singapore, Shanghai, Tianjin and Masan.

San Francisco Bay-based container ship facility Port of Oakland said its containerized import volume jumped 7.3 percent last month over January 2019 totals.Exports were up, too, the Port said, lifting hopes for recovery from a U.S.-China trade war. One question remained, however: would concern over the fast-spreading coronavirus dampen trade growth?“It’s possible,” said Port of Oakland Maritime Director John Driscoll. “The uptick in January was encouraging but we’re hearing from shipping lines that cargo volume could moderate over the next few months.”Oakland’s year-over-year import volume increase in January followed three straight months of decline, the Port said. Exports rose 3.3 percent in January, up for the fourth straight month. The Port said consumer demand – both in the U.S.

Australia has become the largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter in the world. The record figure knocked Qatar out of the top spot."Australia is set to become the world’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter this year, overtaking Qatar, with its supplies expected to reach 81 million tonnes (MT) as Ichthys LNG and Prelude FLNG increase production," Rystad Energy said.Meanwhile, Qatari exports will remain at current levels, around 77 MT. The US will increase LNG exports from about 36 MT in 2019 to 56 MT in 2020, dominating new LNG supply contributions. Both Russia and Malaysia are each expected to add about 1.5 MT of LNG production during 2020.Overall in 2020…

Canadian and U.S. government representatives will arrive in Mexico on Tuesday to sign the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said.The three countries have come to an agreement over labor, steel and aluminum, he said at his regular daily news conference. (Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon and Abraham Gonzalez, Editing by Frank Jack Daniel)

Supported by low LNG prices, the LNG spot and short term market continues to represent an ever increasing share of global LNG trade, said Golar LNG, a liquefied natural gas shipping company registered in Bermuda."Continued strong growth in LNG production around the world and associated lower pricing together with customer’s increased focus on their ESG responsibility is also accelerating their appetite to switch from burning coal, fuel oil and diesel to cheaper and cleaner LNG," Iain Ross, CEO, Golar LNG, said.Dominated by US projects, 114mtpa of new liquefaction capacity is slated to come on stream between 2020 and 2025. Based on current…

NextDecade Corporation announced that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has issued an order authorizing the siting, construction and operation of its proposed Rio Grande LNG export facility in Brownsville, Texas.“Issuance of the FERC order marks an extremely important milestone for our project,” said Matt Schatzman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Texas-based liquefied natural gas (LNG) development company.“We appreciate the comprehensive and rigorous review of our project conducted by the FERC and numerous other federal, state and local agencies over the last four and a half years,” Schatzman added.NextDecade currently anticipates finalizing important commercial milestones during the fourth quarter of 2019 and first quarter of 2020…