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Data shows that the largest port in Venezuela is where tankers depart with Venezuelan oil products.
According to internal documents and ship tracking data from PDVSA, at least 'two' tankers containing Venezuelan methanol - and petroleum -coke - left the OPEC nation's largest port on Wednesday. Since the United States first imposed sanctions against Venezuela in 2019, it has not targeted oil byproducts and petrochemicals exports. Since the United States first imposed energy sanctions on Venezuela in 2019, it has not targeted exports of oil byproducts or petrochemicals. After a cyberattack this week that affected PDVSA's central administrative systems, the cargoes are being shipped. (Reporting and editing by Julia Symmes Cobb; Marianna Pararaga)
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US Postal Service seeks new revenue streams to stave off cash crunch in 2027
The U.S. The U.S. U.S. Postmaster-General David Steiner said he hoped Amazon.com would participate in the process of seeking bids for 18,000 USPS Delivery Destination Units that will allow "last mile" deliveries to customers from a wider range. Steiner, in his first interview after taking over the USPS leadership, said that this could add billions in revenue. The Postal Service delivers more than 170 millions U.S. addresses every week, and the last mile is the most expensive. Steiner added that it is also very expensive for FedEx, UPS, and Amazon. "We have a precarious cash situation." He said that we would be out of money in 12 to 24 months. Steiner stated that the USPS free cash and spending rate would leave them "basically out of money" by early 2027. Steiner, the new USPS leader who was appointed in July by the White House after it ousted the previous postal chief, said that the USPS needed significant legislative and administrative reforms following a $9 billion annual loss reported in November. Steiner stated that one of the priorities is to convince Congress to remove the $15 billion borrowing cap it imposed many years ago. Government Accountability Office reported on Wednesday that USPS has suffered net losses of $118 billion in the last seven years, as its first-class mail – its most profitable product – has dropped to its lowest volume ever. Congress approved legislation in 2022 that would provide USPS with financial relief of about $57 billion. Postal service does not have a 'luxury of time' Amazon did not comment immediately on Wednesday but said earlier in the month that it was in talks with USPS regarding its future relationship. It is also considering its options prior to its current contract expiring in October. However, Amazon expressed concern about the auction after nearly a full year of negotiation. We are in the process of negotiating to extend this contract. Steiner told the group that they would be going out on the market to test the market. There's one thing that I'm absolutely sure of: If we keep doing things the same way, we'll be dead in a year. I've got to test the market to see if this price is fair. USPS currently sells?about 1,7 billion units from its last mile distribution. However, it has the capacity to deliver 3.5 to 4, billion. It generates $5.5 to $6 billion annually from these deliveries. USPS has received significant interest from many companies. We had to act quickly and in a dramatic way. Steiner stated that we do not have the luxury of a lot of time. He said that the fate of USPS and Amazon are linked and added that Americans receive Amazon packages from the Postal Service 1,7 billion times per year. There is no doubt in my mind that the U.S. Amazon would not be where it is today without the U.S. Steiner stated that they wanted to continue the relationship at a fair cost. (Reporting and editing by Franklin Paul, Alexander Smith and David Shepardson from Washington)
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Source: Inocea Group, UK, is interested in acquiring GNYK (German warshipbuilder) from Germany
A person familiar with the matter has confirmed that Inocea Group, a British marine, defence and industrial company, is in negotiations to buy German Naval Yards Kiel. This shows the growing demand for military assets fuelled by rising geopolitical tensions. Interest in GNYK suggests a bidding war, as the CEO of Germany’s TKMS announced last week that the world’s largest non-nuclear sub manufacturer was considering a bid to acquire the company headquartered at the same port city – Kiel. Under pressure from governments, a swollen order book, and?increasing military spending?, defence companies and investors in Europe are expanding their industrial capacity. According to its website, Inocea Group's founders Alex Vicefield, James Davies and their family are the sole owners and control of this company. It has offices in London,?Monaco and other locations. Inocea's spokesperson said that the group is constantly evaluating?ways to improve its?strategic positioning in shipbuilding through organic growth and M&A. The spokesperson stated that "This approach is consistent with our recent expansion into Finland and the United States and growth of our Canadian businesses." GNYK CEO Rino brugge said the company is always open to strategic partnerships with international companies, but declined to reveal the identities of "potential suitors". GNYK is a part of the family owned CMN Naval Group, a French shipbuilder that specializes in yacht and naval construction. It employs about 400 people directly. It does not reveal its financial results. The Baltic Sea location of the shipyard places it near?NATO’s eastern flank, and major regional shipping lanes. Access to the Kiel Canal provides a logistical advantage as it links?the Baltic to the North Sea. Oliver Burkhard, TKMS' CEO, said in a statement last week that the group would decide on a GNYK acquisition as part of their?expansion drive. This already included MV Werften being acquired by TKMS in 2022. Inocea's core business is to buy, build, invest and operate companies in the maritime, defence and energy sectors. Davie Shipbuilding is owned by Inocea. (Reporting and editing by Anousha Saoui, Christoph Steitz, Tom Kaeckenhoff and Tomaszjanowski; Additional reporting by Mathieu Rosamain;
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US Postal Service invites bids from shippers and retailers for last-mile delivery
The U.S. The U.S. U.S. postmaster general David Steiner stated in an interview that he hopes Amazon.com, and other companies, will participate in the bid process to open up its 18,000 USPS destination units for "last mile" deliveries, which would allow a wider?range of clients, adding billions of dollars of much needed revenue?to USPS. "We are in a very precarious financial situation." Steiner stated that we will be out of money in 12 to 24 months. Steiner stated that it was "clear" to him that you could not save your way to prosperity. He added that USPS's current free cash, and its spending rates "we are basically out of money in early 2027." Steiner, the new postal chief who was appointed in July by the White House after it ousted 'the previous leader of USPS,' reiterated that USPS needed significant legislative and administrative reforms following a $9 billion loss reported in November. Steiner stated that the Postal Service delivers six days a weeks to over 170 million U.S. addresses. The last-mile delivery, however, is the most costly part of deliveries. Let the market decide what is a fair price, rather than us or our customers. This opens the market up to a variety of players? Steiner said. (Reporting and editing by Franklin Paul in Washington; David Shepardson, Washington)
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Sources say Venezuela's state oil company resumed cargo deliveries following cyberattack
According to sources and the state-run PDVSA, Venezuelan oil company resumed oil cargo deliveries on Wednesday at its terminals after a cyberattack affected their centralized administrative system. Sources close to the operations of PDVSA said that the company, which was dealing with the U.S. blockade on Tuesday against all sanctioned oil tankers attempting to enter or leave Venezuelan waters and approaching, had been able to isolate refineries, oilfields, ports, and other facilities to resume working. According to a source at the state-run oil company, the ransomware was detected days earlier and the antivirus software used to try and fix it affected the entire administrative system. A ransomware attack encrypts the victim's files and locks their computer, causing major disruptions. Sources said that workers at terminals now manually record deliveries in order to prevent a longer suspension. In a Wednesday statement, PDVSA stated that its tanker fleet is navigating normally and oil imports and exports are back to normal. According to one source and shipping data, PDVSA's partner in the joint venture Chevron loaded two crude cargoes for the U.S. on Wednesday. It's unclear how U.S. president Donald Trump will enforce his blockade of sanctioned vessels and if he will use the U.S. Coast Guard for interdiction. Last week, the U.S. seized a Supertanker near Venezuela. The Trump administration has sent thousands of troops as well as nearly a dozen ships to the area. Venezuela's response to Trump's "grotesque threats" was made in a later statement on Tuesday evening, claiming that he violated international law, the free trade and the right to free navigation. According to a statement shared by Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez who is also Venezuelan oil minister, the ambassador of Venezuela to the United Nations would?denounce Trump’s threat there. Exports are drying up since the U.S. took over the large crude carrier Skipper, last week. Only tankers chartered by Chevron, and operating under U.S. authorization have sailed without delay. A supertanker that was not sanctioned set sail in "dark mode" or with its signal off this week, after waiting days for it to depart, carrying 1.8 millions barrels of heavy oil, according to an internal PDVSA document and monitoring data. The PDVSA is still stuck with more than 9 million barrels of Venezuelan crude oil in Venezuelan waters. Customers and shippers are demanding price discounts and contract modifications from the company. According to the data available on the TankerTrackers.com website, at least half a dozen oil tankers have turned back since last week in order to avoid approaching the Caribbean Sea which is heavily patrolled and manned by U.S. vessels. In addition, the rising tensions between Venezuela and the United States have affected Venezuela's imports heavy naphtha needed to dilute it extra-heavy crude oil production. The data shows that most tankers delivering Russian naphtha to Venezuela arrived and discharging since last month. However, some have returned. The data showed that most tankers carrying Russian naphtha for Venezuela have arrived and discharged since last month, but others have turned back.
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Nike's marketing campaign is unlikely to increase earnings in the near future
Investors in Nike will be looking for signs this week that the recovery seen last quarter is sustainable, and that an increased marketing budget is helping the sportswear manufacturer claw back lost market share. Nike, which has been synonymous with sport for a long time, is now trying to gain momentum, after losing ground to more hip alternatives like On and Deckers Hoka. The demand in China is choppy. Elliott Hill, the CEO of Nike, has promised to bring Nike back to its roots by focusing on core sports such as running and soccer. This means clearing out older inventory, usually at a discount. This is impacting revenue when tariffs are high and margins are being squeezed. Nike increased its expected tariff costs for this year by $1.5 billion last quarter. The company cited exposure to high-tariff nations such as Vietnam. This week, the company held a rare communications job fair in New York. The company is set to announce its second-quarter earnings this Thursday. Matthew Friend, finance chief Matthew, forecasted "an acceleration in demand creation investment", corporate speak for increased marketing spending. According to LSEG 'data, the amount spent in fiscal 2026 is expected to reach $5 billion, up from $4.68 in fiscal 2025. Mari Shor is a senior equity analyst at Columbia Threadneedle which owns Nike stock. She said that the increased focus on marketing was "a bullish indication that they felt better about the product" but that "they also acknowledged they needed to make an appropriate investment behind it." According to LSEG, Nike will report a net loss for the sixth consecutive quarter. The profit is expected to have fallen to $562.35M from the previous quarter's $601.35M. After a slight increase in the first quarter, it is likely that second-quarter revenue will fall again. It's expected to be down by 1.09% at $12.22 billion. Gross margin is likely to have dropped from 42.2% during the first quarter to just 40.77%. Focus on Marketing and Innovation David Swartz, Morningstar analyst, stated that Nike's ads have focused more on the iconic brand than specific products in recent years. He said that as the company begins to develop new products and innovate, the advertising may change. Swartz said: "Nobody is expecting an excellent quarter." Anta and Li-Ning, two domestic brands, have been fiercely competing in China, where 15% of all sales are made. Retail in China is dominated by monobrand stores. This limits the ability of a company to sell through diverse channels, as Nike can in the United States. Nike has made a significant investment in the new versions of its running shoe lines Pegasus Premium, and Vomero 18 as this category has been performing well. Conversely, Nike has scaled back the production of Air Force 1 sneakers. Nike has a golden opportunity to reaffirm their cultural cachet with new products that boost performance and the World Cup in six months. The company has also formed partnerships with Kim Kardashian’s activewear and essentials label SKIMS. It promotes sustainability initiatives, such as recycled material, to meet the evolving demands of consumers for ethical shopping. Nicholas P. Brown contributed to this report. Juveria tabassum contributed additional reporting from Bengaluru. Sayantani Ghosh, Mark Potter and Sayantani Bhosh edited the article.
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Hapag-Lloyd will power container ships using e-fuels starting in 2027
Hapag-Lloyd (Germany) and North Sea Container Lines (North Sea) won an auction to use low-emission fuels made from hydrogen in container ships from 2027, for at least 3 years. Hapag-Lloyd plans to power five large container vessels with 70,000 tons of e-methanol, while NCL will fuel a small vessel with 25,000 tons e-ammonia. After the tender organized by the Zero Emissions Maritime Buyers Alliance (ZEMBA). The volume of fuels agreed is significant as the shipping industry uses them very little at the moment. ZEMBA is a voluntary initiative that includes Amazon, IKEA and Nike, among others. It matches companies willing to pay more for deliveries using low emission fuels with operators who can power their vessels by these fuels. Under pressure from the United States, the International Maritime Organization decided to delay a global price for carbon by a year in October. Shipping faces greater challenges than other sectors in reducing emissions. Existing vessels must be retrofitted or new ships built to run on e-fuels. Ingrid Irigoyen, Zemba's President, said that "we have found that there is e fuel available at economically feasible cost points and there would be more supply if demand was stronger." Hapag-Lloyd said that Yara Clean Ammonia would provide e-ammonia while China's Goldwind will likely provide e-methanol under the tender. Enes Tunagur, London (Reporting and Editing by David Goodman).
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SpiceJet, a new subsidiary of Natilus, has ordered 100 jets from the company.
Natilus, an aviation startup in the United States, announced on Wednesday that India's SpiceJet had ordered 100 of their blended-wing-body aircraft. The company is marking its entry into India's fast-growing market with the launch of a new local subsidiary. According to the industry group IATA the Indian aviation market is the fifth largest in the world. It is a lucrative spot for global airlines and planemakers, driven by a stronger demand for travel into and out of the country following the pandemic. Natilus also considers India as a possible location for a manufacturing plant, and plans to build approximately 300 HORIZON Jets at the site when it is completed. Aleksey Mathyushev, CEO of Natilus, said: "I believe there is a great opportunity for us to expand into what could actually be a second manufacturing plant over there." Natilus announced earlier this year that it was in the process of selecting the location of its first U.S. Manufacturing Facility. SpiceJet, a low-cost airline in India, said that it would partner with Natilus for certification and to purchase the jets after regulatory hurdles have been cleared. Natilus India will have its headquarters in Mumbai. Natilus, founded in San Diego in 2016, is one of the companies that are looking to commercialize blended-wing jet designs. This concept has been explored for years in experimental and defense aircraft but not in mainstream airline service. Boeing and Airbus also have experimented over the years with blended-wing body concepts. Natilus is pursuing certification under?Part 25 for its HORIZON Jet through the Federal Aviation Administration. It expects to see it on the market at the beginning of the next decade. The?HORIZON will be a narrowbody jet that is similar to the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320, but with more interior space and lower operating costs. (Reporting and editing by Mrigank Dahniwala in Bengaluru)
F1 announces the new terms of motor racing: Boost, Overtake and Charge
In 2026, Formula One fans can expect to hear a lot more about Boost and Overtake.
The Liberty Media owned sport announced a re-evaluation of terminology Wednesday, to coincide with the beginning of a brand new era of engines and the largest ever revision of technical regulations.
The cars will have thinner and lighter tyres, a split of 50/50 between internal combustion, sustainable fuel and electric power.
In a recent statement, Formula One stated that "in this new generation of drivers the power is more in their hands than before."
"Critical decisions over energy deployment, regeneration and conservancy puts them in a position of even greater responsibility.
Understanding how they will use and deploy these 'new tactical elements' will be crucial in order to ensure the best appreciation of their?skill and race-craft."
Formula?One has said that it wants to avoid 'gimmicks' and jargon and finalised a new list of terms after consulting with the governing FIA and teams, engineers, and fans old and new.
OVERTAKE MODE is a replacement for DRS. It's a strategy that gives drivers extra power to overtake cars within a few seconds of the car in front. The mode can be activated in one shot or over several laps.
BOOST MODE allows the driver to deploy energy in an attack or defense depending on where you are on the track. The engine and battery will deliver maximum power anywhere on the track at the touch of a button.
ACTIVE AERO is a term that refers to movable front- and rear-wing elements, with Corner and Straight modes. Formula One claims it will allow "strategic adaptation and maximizes the full use of the car's?power through greater on track grip."
RECHARGE is any chance for drivers to recharge the battery of their vehicle with "recovered power from braking or throttle lifts at the end straights, and even corners when only part-power is applied." (Reporting and editing by Christian Radnedge, Alan Baldwin)
(source: Reuters)