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Lufthansa loses its appeal in the state aid dispute with Ryanair
The German airline 'Lufthansa' lost its appeal against a court ruling on Thursday that invalidated EU approval for state aid it received during the COVID epidemic. This confirmed a victory for Ryanair, the rival. The European Union Court of Justice rejected Lufthansa’s appeal. It upheld a General Court decision that invalidated the European Commission’s decision to clear recapitalisation of the airline. In a?statement, the court said that the Court of Justice dismissed Lufthansa’s appeal today and upheld the General Court’s ruling. The original ruling was made in 2023, following a legal challenge by Ryanair. "We note the European Court of Justice ruling. ?At a similar time, we'd like to highlight?that ECJ ruling can be taken into consideration by the European Commission investigation that has been going on since 2024. Lufthansa stated that it would engage in a constructive process, and was in constant contact with the?relevant institutions. Lufthansa has also been affected by strike action and is currently embroiled in an ongoing dispute with its pilots union regarding pensions. The group announced on Tuesday that it would be cutting 20,000 short-haul flight from its schedule until October. Earlier this month, the group announced the permanent removal of 27 CityLine aircraft citing higher jet fuel prices and industrial action costs. The European Commission or?Ryanair didn't immediately respond to our requests for comment. Reporting by 'Inti Landauro, Yun Chee Foo, Charlotte Van Campenhout, Ilona Wissenbach, and Mark Potter in Frankfurt. Additional reporting by Miranda Murray, in Berlin.
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Schindler reduces costs due to Middle East conflict by increasing prices and surcharges
Swiss elevator manufacturer 'Schindler' is working to reduce costs by implementing surcharges and pricing changes. On a conference call with analysts, Schindler CEO Paolo Compagna stated that the company is 'facing additional costs inflation in terms of fuel and energy costs as well as commodities. Finance chief Carla De Geyseleer said that fuel and logistics costs would each add about 15 million Swiss Francs ($19million) to the annual costs, while energy costs would only be less than 1 million Swiss Francs. De Geyseleer stated that the estimated cost inflation of raw materials was still 15 to 20 millions per year, as the company reported in February. Compagna stated that while the Middle East's impact on the top line remained modest, as sales in the region only make up 2% of all?sales; serving customers has become more difficult, especially for new installations. He said that the company has around '200 units on hold or in transit which they are trying to deliver via alternate routes.
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The US airline industry is still suffering from the Iran War fuel shortage despite record demand.
?U.S. Airlines are experiencing their highest passenger numbers, packing more people on their planes, and boosting revenue. Yet, in a cruel contradiction, a war thousands miles away is torching profit through a crushing burden of fuel costs. United Airlines has cut its full-year forecast of profit by about a third in the last week. Alaska Air retracted its entire outlook. Delta Air Lines canceled?planned growth? for the quarter while Southwest Airlines refused to update their full-year forecast, saying that it "wouldn't be productive at this point." Fuel costs have risen faster in each case than airline fares. This is the first time that the Iran conflict has forced major American companies, without any certainty as to when it will end, to reduce operations, lower their forecasts, and pass on costs to consumers. United has flown more passengers than ever before in the January-March period of its history. Chicago-based airline also brought in more revenue in the first quarter than at any time in its history, as ticket prices rose across its entire network. The company still cut its profit projection. The industry is in a bind: the demand is high, but the costs are increasing faster. Since the United States and Israel launched their attack on Iran in late-February, jet fuel prices have nearly doubled. Costs are rising so rapidly that fares are not keeping pace. Southwest expects fuel prices to increase from $2.73 per gallon in the first quarter to about $4.10-4.15 per gallon for the second quarter. Delta will only recover 40 to 50 cents for every dollar spent on fuel in this quarter. United is also experiencing a similar situation, but it should improve later in the year. Alaska recovers only a third of the growth -- a deficit so large that it was forced to withdraw its forecast for this quarter and warn about a possible loss. United reduced its full-year earning outlook to $7 to $10 per share, from $12 to $14 only two months earlier. The unusually large range reflects the uncertainty surrounding fuel. Alaska didn't publish any ranges. Trimming the marginal Flies Fuel prices are forcing airlines to cut flights even though planes are full. Scott Kirby, CEO of United Airlines, said: "It doesn't make any sense to fly flights with marginal profits in an environment where fuel prices are higher." Delta has removed all growth plans for the quarter and reduced capacity by over 3.5 percentage points compared to earlier targets. United has reduced its planned flights by about 5 percentage points. Alaska Airlines has reduced late-night flights and cut back on Mexico, while Southwest Airlines has reduced weaker routes as well as suspended operations in Chicago O'Hare Airport and Washington Dulles. The focus of the reductions is on flights with lower margins -- overnight trips and midweek travel, as well as thinner leisure routes. Higher fuel costs quickly reduce profitability. Delta Chief executive Ed Bastian stated that the best way to recapture fuel is to not purchase it in the first place. FIRE RISING BUT NOT ENOUGH Delta's revenue grew by nearly 10% during the first quarter of the year, and bookings continue to grow into the current period. United has implemented several fare increases, including higher baggage fees. Prices rose by about 12% early in March and continued to rise later in the month. Alaska has said that fares have increased by more than 20 percent in the last few weeks in its core markets, without affecting demand. Alaska Finance Chief Shane Tackett stated that the rapid increase in fares and the stable bookings of the past few weeks suggest that people are really eager to travel. It takes time for the increases in fares to be felt. Fuel prices rose before many passengers booked their flights, which limits how quickly airlines are able to recover the higher costs. Pricing lags even when the industry works together. Alaska claimed it would have made money this quarter, if not for the fuel. The pressure is starting to spread Impact is not limited to airlines. GE Aerospace which produces engines for the majority of U.S. Commercial Jets said that it had built a more conservative second half in its outlook. This reflects the risk that airlines may delay maintenance, engine overhauls, and spending if fuel prices remain high. Larry Culp, Chief Executive of the Company, said that the outlook was unchanged despite the positive results. He cited the uncertainty caused by the conflict. Culp stated, "We are at a war and that creates a certain amount of uncertainty." (Reporting and editing by Lisa Shumaker; Rajesh Kumar Singh)
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China promises to build islands after teasing new aircraft carrier with video
In a teaser video, China teased?an aircraft?carrier that could be their fourth and first to use nuclear power. They also promised to continue building up?their islands as they look to increase maritime?power and secure resources, while bolstering territorial claims. The video released?on?the eve?of the 77th founding year of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy featured three fictional officers whose names are homophones for three commissioned aircraft carrier, the Liaoning. Shandong. and Fujian. The video, titled "Into the Deep", showed a 19 year old named "He Jian" as a member of the group. This sparked public speculation about a nuclear aircraft carrier. In Mandarin, the name "He Jian" is a homophone for "nuclear vessel". All three aircraft carriers in service today are conventionally-powered and have sequential pennants with the numbers 16, 17, 18?and 19. The age of the new recruit, 19, indicates that "He Jian", will follow the numbering convention. The Chinese Ministry of Defence did not respond immediately to requests for comments on the video. Beijing has spent billions to build a navy that can project power from far away. This goal dates back to 2012 when President Xi Jinping was appointed leader of the ruling Communist Party. The video included military drills and attacks in the Pacific. But it also sent a message to democratically-governed Taiwan, which China claims as its territory, despite ?Taipei's rejection of the claim. The video shows an exchange between a Naval officer and his son, "Xiao Wan", whose name is an allusion to Taiwan. "I don?t want to leave yet." The boy replies, "I want to play a little bit longer." "Don't be difficult, Xiao Wan," his father replies. Mum is waiting at home for you. "Let's go back home." ISLAND BUILDING In an article that appeared in the People's Daily official newspaper, the Chinese Ministry of Natural Resources urged for greater efforts to protect the 11,000+ islands China claims. An official count in 2018 showed that the vast majority are within 100 km of the coast. Nearly 60% of them are in the East China Sea while the remainder is in the South China Sea. China has constructed?artificial island, airstrips and military facilities over the years during extensive land reclamation in disputed waters of the South China Sea. Beijing declared a nature reserve in September last year at the disputed Scarborough Shoal, which has been a point of contention between the Philippines and China for many years. The CSIS think-tank Gregory Poling said that the facilities on the artificial island bases allowed Chinese law enforcement, military, and militia vessels to spend every day of a year patrolling the waters up to 1,000 nautical mile from the Chinese coast. A senior Taiwanese official was not deterred by China's presence on the busy waterway from making a rare trip to the Taiwan-controlled Itu Aba island, which is part of the disputed Spratly Islands. Itu?Aba's runway is long enough for military resupply flights to Taiwan. A new wharf that will be opened in 2023 has the capacity to host a 4,000-ton Patrol Ship. This week, the Philippines, United States, and partner nations began military drills, including maritime operations across the?Philippine archipelago. The exercises portrayed a multinational front in the?region that facilitates more than $3 trillion of annual shipborne commerce. Poling, the head of the Southeast Asia Programme at this think tank, said that Beijing had reached a point where it was no longer worth its while. It has failed to stop a single Southeast Asian project, supply or construction mission or anything similar in the last four years." (Reporting and editing by Clarence Fernandez; Xiuhao Xie, Ryan Woo)
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UK's WH Smith lowers its annual profit forecast and suspends the dividend due to travel disruptions in the Middle East
The Middle East conflict has caused disruptions to global air traffic, which have led WH Smith to lower its profit forecast for the year and suspend a dividend. As travel slows during the conflict, airport outlet operators like WH Smith will likely see a decline in activity. Airlines are also increasing ticket prices to cover higher jet fuel costs. The company stated that it was taking a cautious approach due to the uncertain situation in the Middle East. This is reflected by the decline in passenger numbers, and the lower consumer confidence. The Swindon group expects a full-year headline loss before tax and non underlying items between 90 million pounds and 105 million pound ($121.40 million-$141.63 millions), down from an earlier estimate of 100 to 115million pounds. WH Smith announced in 'August last year that it discovered a 'deception of about 30 million pounds on its 'North America earnings. This led to the departure of the CEO Carl Cowling from the retailer and the British Financial Regulator launching an investigation regarding the breaching of listing and disclosure regulations. WH Smith has said it will continue to 'cooperate with the regulator as they investigate the firm. ($1 = 0.7413 pounds) (Reporting by Prerna Bedi in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema)
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The Slovak Ministry says that Druzhba oil flows to Slovakia have resumed on Thursday morning.
The Economy Ministry of Slovakia announced that Slovakia began receiving crude oil via the Druzhba Pipeline early on Thursday. This confirmed the end of the outage, which lasted for months after a Russian attack on the pipeline, according to Ukraine. The Economy Ministry announced that at 2 am (0000 GMT), the reception of oil into Slovakia via the Druzhba pipe was resumed. Since the halt of Russian oil deliveries to Hungary and Slovakia, in January, the Druzhba?pipeline is one of Europe's most political pieces of?infrastructure. The oil flowing through the Ukrainian portion of the pipeline began on Wednesday. This prompted Hungary to lift their veto over a '90 billion euro (105.4 billion dollar) EU loan that Ukraine urgently needs. Ukraine said that the halt was due to the need to repair the pipeline. Hungary and Slovakia accused Kyiv, however, of being slow. Hungary and Slovakia are still reliant on Russian gas and oil despite EU efforts to stop imports of Russian energy after Russia invades Ukraine in 2022.
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Iran War boosts European Logistics Profits as Shipping Chaos Persists
Analysts say that the U.S./Israeli war against Iran will benefit European logistics companies, which are expected to post higher profits in the first quarter. However, analysts also said that the conflict could cloud their future prospects. Although increased supply-chain complexity is typically a positive for logistics companies like DHL, DSV and Kuehne+Nagel in terms of profitability, many analysts have warned that the long-term effects from the energy shock and broader economic fallout may impact demand later this year. In a client note, Jefferies analysts stated that Kuehne+Nagel management does not expect any further yield pressure on sea or air businesses in the first quarter. The brokerage stated that this reinforced its view that earnings are stabilised and set to improve. Jefferies analysts said that periods of geopolitical instability have historically favored sea-to-air spillovers, where DHL has a structural advantage. The volume of air freight is increasing faster Analysts at Bernstein said that while air freight volumes are expected grow at an annual rate of high single digits, sea freight volumes will only rise at a single digit pace. They said that sea freight volumes were impacted by comparisons, after shippers pre-loaded cargo in anticipation of U.S. tariffs on imports beginning April 2025. Analysts are also looking forward to DSV’s capital markets day on 12 May, where they will be updating their medium-term financial goals. Bernstein stated that the potential for upside surprises is significant. Conflict in the Middle East has a significant impact on freight markets. After a weekend of escalation, the Middle East conflict has seen ships avoid the Strait of Hormuz. This has led to a greater level of uncertainty along an important trade route already disrupted. As a result of the disruption, there has been a sharp increase in air cargo costs. The high demand for jet fuel and reduced capacity have all contributed to this. Impact is felt far beyond the Gulf. The Red Sea is also at risk due to the increased tensions in the region. This has delayed the expected return of transits via the Suez route. Rico Luman is a senior economist at ING Research. He said that "full resumption has been pushed back several months, and may even be until the end of the year." This should help logistics companies on the short-term. Morningstar analyst Ben Slupecki stated that global shippers such as Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd, and others have rerouted their vessels around Cape of Good Hope. This has kept freight rates high and increased margins, because the higher prices are quickly absorbed by the fixed costs of shipping lines. Analysts do not expect the global freight markets to return to normality quickly, even if there is a resolution of the conflict. Luman stated that although freight rates could fall after a peace agreement allows traffic through the Strait of Hormuz to resume, any decrease is likely to be slow as supply chains will have been adjusted and congestion will have abated. Shippers are expected to explore alternative routes and port, which suggests pre-conflict patterns of trading may not return in full. Reporting by Amir Orusov, Anastasiia Kozolova and Matt Scuffham
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Andy Home: Gulf aluminium disruption has ripple effects on the alumina industry.
The Iran War has caused the aluminum market to focus on what isn't?coming out of Strait of Hormuz. There is a second, equally important problem: What is not coming?in. Gulf Aluminium Smelters depend heavily on alumina imports, the intermediate between bauxite (bauxite) and metal to maintain their operations. Six smelters are located in the region, but there are only two alumina refining plants. Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) Al Taweelah, one of them, was damaged by iranian missiles. The same reason is causing the smelter to be out of service at the site, and other smelters have reduced their capacity. As shipments are diverted away from the Gulf, this disruption will have a first-round effect on the alumina markets that is already saturated. Second-round effects could include further reductions in Gulf metal production, as smelters are running low on raw materials. China is the only one who wins here, as it absorbs all of the displaced aluminum. Under Pressure Even before the Iran War, the alumina market was already under pressure. Since the beginning of the year, the London Metal?Exchange price (LME), which is based on S&P Global Platts assessment of the Australian FOB price, has hovered around $300 per metric tonne. This is a far cry from the frenetic rally of 2024 when prices soared above $800 after a series supply shocks. Since then, the market has shifted from a shortage to a surplus due to the continued expansion of production in?China or Indonesia. Macquarie Bank estimated the global surplus to be 2.54 million tonnes last year, and forecasted a surplus of 1,26 million tons by 2026. Bank of America has increased its estimate for 2026 excess supply to 2.2 millions tons as Gulf bound shipments are being redirected onto the seaborne market. The length of time the Strait is closed to shipping will be a determining factor. INPUT RISKS If the Strait is not reopened soon, there's a greater risk that Qatalum in Qatar and Aluminium Bahrain will have to make further cuts. Ma'aden in Saudi Arabia is the only fully integrated Gulf producer. It operates its own bauxite mining operation, feeding Ras Al Khair alumina refining plant. According to Wood Mackenzie, Ma'aden has been supplying emergency supplies to other countries. Alumina isn't the only problem for Gulf operators. According to AZ Global Consulting, the logistical problems could be even worse for coal tar pitch which is used in the manufacture of carbon anodes that are used in the smelting processes. It said that while other carbon inputs, such as calcined coal and petroleum coke, can be "redirected, stockpiled or rebagged and trucked", liquid pitch needs heated storage, heated trucks and heated silos to keep it molten between the loading point and discharge point. These facilities are rare and difficult to improvise. "Pitch could be the most difficult logistical problem in the carbon 'chain if disruptions continue," AZ Global stated. CHINA WINS China is the main beneficiary of the disruption to the alumina processing chain. According to the World Bureau of Metal Statistics which gathers data from customs official figures, it?imported alumina of 338,315 metric tons in March. This is the highest monthly total since January 2024. AZ Global anticipates that imports will remain strong in the months to come, thanks to an 'open import arbitrage' between domestic and foreign prices. China's smelters enjoy a?strong profit margin, as the Gulf Crisis has also sent aluminium prices up to four-year levels. According to the International Aluminium Institute, Western production in March fell by 312,000 tons on an annualised basis due to restrictions in the Gulf while Chinese production increased by 88,000 tonnes. China's share in global production grew to a record 60.2% a month ago. This ratio will likely?continue to creep higher as the Iran War takes a greater toll on Gulf smelters. Andy Home is a columnist at. This column is great! Open Interest (ROI) is your new essential source of global financial commentary. Follow ROI on LinkedIn and X. Listen to the Morning Bid podcast daily on Apple, Spotify or the app. Subscribe to the Morning Bid podcast and hear journalists discussing the latest news in finance and markets seven days a weeks.
Data shows that Russia increased fuel oil exports from Saudi Arabia to Russia in March?
Data from LSEG and traders showed that Russia's seaborne fuel oil and vacuum gasolineoil exports to?Saudi Arabia jumped by 18% from February - to 1 million metric tonnes - as the soaring prices of oil prompted?by a war in Iran reshaped flow patterns.
Saudi Arabia is now a major exporter. It has increased its purchases of Russian fuel oil at discounted prices to supply the power sector. This allows it to conserve valuable crude that otherwise would be used to generate electricity.
Typically, fuel oil and VGO shipments from Russian ports into Saudi Arabia increase in the summer when air conditioning demand is higher. The surge in March was boosted by tightening crude markets, a sharp rise in oil prices and the escalating Middle East conflict.
Middle Eastern and Asian countries are now the main markets for Russian fuel oil and VGO since the European Union's embargo against Russian oil products took effect in February 2023.
LSEG data shows that Russian exports to Singapore, Malaysia and other major hubs for bunkering and storage fell by 23% from the previous month to 1 million tonnes.
Shipping data revealed that exports to India, which were once among Russia's biggest fuel oil markets, fell 66% on a month-to-month basis to only 37,000 tons. Since November, the U.S. sanctions against Russian oil giants Rosneft & Lukoil have reduced supplies of so-called "dirty" oil products to India to almost zero.
Nearly 230,000 tons VGO and fuel oil, which were loaded in Russian ports during March, went to ship-to-ship transfer near Port Said, Egypt. The final destination is still unknown.
After Ukrainian drone attacks disrupted loading at key ports, Russia's total seaborne exports of fuel oil and VGO fell about 10% from February to 3.35 millions tons.
All shipping data is based upon the date the cargo left. Mark Potter is responsible for reporting and editing.
(source: Reuters)