Shipowners: Why freight-forwarders, others let off hook?

Kota Kinabalu: The Malaysia Shipowners Association (Masa) feels slighted at being held responsible for the higher costs of goods and services in Sabah, while forwarding agents, hauliers, ports and warehouse operators are spared.
In this context, it said the Federation of Sabah Manufacturers (FSM) should demand similar clarifications on the price structures from the others, which [...]

BDI improves further by 41 points on July 29

It is reported that on July 29th 2010, Baltic Dry Index reached 1942 points, up by 41 points as compared to July 28th 2010.
Capsize

BCI
Change

SPOT 4 TCE AVG
1886
+85

INDEX
14443
+864

July 28th 2010
13579

Year Ago
57471

All except INDEX in USDChange is with respect to numbers on July 28th 2010
Panamax

BPI
Change

INDEX
2582
+76

SPOT 4 TCE AVG
20752
+614

July 28th 2010
20138

Year Ago
28086

All except INDEX in USDChange is [...]

CPC Corporation to set up oil shipping venture

Reuters reported that Taiwan’s CPC Corporation will join private firms U Ming Marine and Chinese Maritime Transport to set up an oil shipping venture with a total investment of TWD 29.7 billion.
State owned CPC said in a statement that it will have 48% of the venture, which will either order its first ship or buy [...]

Top 5 steel companies in 2009

The World Steel Association has published the 2010 edition of World Steel in Figures.
The largest five steel producing worldsteel member companies in 2009 were:

Rank
Country
Volume
Share

1
ArcelorMittal
77.5
6.3%

2
Baosteel
31.3
2.6%

3
POSCO
31.1
2.5%

4
Nippon Steel
26.5
2.2%

5
JFE
25.8
2.1%

In million tonnes
They accounted for 15.7% of global output
Source: worldsteel (13 Jul 2010)

Top 5 crude steel producing countries in 2009

The World Steel Association has published the 2010 edition of World Steel in Figures.
In 2009 the five major steel producing countries were

Rank
Country
Volume
Share

1
China
567.8
46.3%

2
Japan
87.5
7.1%

3
India
62.8
5.1%

4
Russia
60.0
4.9%

5
United States
58.2
4.7%

In million tonnes
They account for more than 68% of global crude steel output
Total world production was 1,226.5 million tonnes in 2009, down from 1,329.0 million tonnes in 2008.
Source: worldsteel (13 [...]

Exclusive: Container shortage ‘could last two years’

Source: Mike King | Tue, 6 Jul 2010
Six million new boxes needed
Equipment shortages could remain a feature of the container shipping
landscape for up to two years, pushing shippers to use those supply chain
providers still able to secure adequate capacity, according to one logistics
major.
Claus Schensema, MD of GAC Forwarding & Shipping (Shanghai), told IFW
equipment shortages [...]

Hazardous material handling for transportation

There’s always doubt when it comes to handling DG / Hazardous material for transportation by sea. Following a good source i found on the net (source: Fourstarcargoinc) serving as a guide. Find this rather useful.
note: pls let me know if any copyrights are being violated by putting this up.

Hazardous Materials

 

What is a Hazardous Material?
According to [...]

Reefer box shortage may restrict world trade in produce

Reefer box shortage may restrict world trade in produce containers could limit imports of fresh produce this year, reports produce convention. shipping companies remain reticent about the economic outlook attending the United Fresh Produce Association’s annual convention.”The shipping companies don’t want to overreact,” Mr Eslinger was shortage. But it’s still too early to tell” if [...]

CMA CGM Returns to Profit

The Board of Directors of France-based CMA CGM, the world’s third largest container shipping group, recently met under the chairmanship of M. Jacques R. Saadé to review the financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2009.   In a container shipping environment where every player was severely affected by the global crisis – the [...]