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J.B. Hunt's profit for the second quarter is down on higher costs
J.B. Hunt Transport Services reported Tuesday a decline in earnings for the second quarter, due to increased expenses on wages and equipment. In extended trading, shares of the company fell 3.8%. Since 2022, the trucking industry is in decline, due to excess capacity, declining freight rates and a modest increase in shipment volume. Experts predict that the recession will continue, and that tariffs imposed on U.S. President Donald Trump by Trump's administration will add pressure to the situation. This could delay recovery. J.B. Hunt has reported a 5.6% increase year-over-year in intermodal volume for the quarter reported. Intermodal transport involves goods being transported via two or multiple modes of transportation. This increased its JBI segment revenue to $1.44billion. The lower demand led to a decline in revenue of 3.7% and 10.5% respectively at the segments for integrated capacity solutions and Final Mile Services. According to data compiled and analyzed by LSEG, the Arkansas-based firm reported total operating revenues of $2.93billion for the quarter ending June 30. This compares to analyst estimates of approximately $2.92billion. Its net income fell to $128.6 millions, or 1.31 per share. This compares to $135.9, or 1.32 per share a year earlier. (Reporting and editing by Mohammed Safi Shamsi in Bengaluru, Abhinav Paramar and Utkarsh Setti)
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US Transportation chief details plan to overhaul airtraffic control
Sean Duffy, the U.S. Transportation secretary, will outline the Trump administration's plan to overhaul the aging U.S. Air Traffic Control System on Wednesday after Congress approved an initial $12.5 Billion in funding. Air traffic control problems at the Federal Aviation Administration have been a problem for years. But a series of high-profile incidents, near misses and an air crash that claimed 67 lives in January between an American Airlines regional jet and a U.S. Army chopper has sparked public concern. Duffy, who will testify before the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Tuesday, said that "our job is to ensure air travel safety, and I have dedicated my tenure in delivering a new air traffic control system." Duffy testifies that the legislation provides USDOT with $12.5 billion as a "downpayment to implement our state of the art design." USDOT has plans to upgrade radar, telecommunications and air traffic control towers as well as other facilities. It also intends to increase the number of air traffic controllers. The bill includes $2billion for the first new air traffic control center built since the 1960s. Donald Trump, the president of the United States at that time, said in April that he wanted to name a firm to oversee this massive project. Raytheon, IBM or other companies like them You can get the contract. The FAA plans to replace 618 radars with new ones, install anti-collision technology on tarmacs at 200 airports, and expand the ADS-B network for real-time information about aircraft traffic. Duffy said that he wanted new funding to be allocated to airport equipment in order to prevent near miss incidents. He also wants to increase the hiring of air traffic controllers and retain them, as there are 3,500 fewer than required. Last month, National Academies of Sciences Report The FAA has increased the overtime costs of air traffic controllers by over 300% since 2013. According to the report, FAA air traffic controllers will log 2.2 million overtime hours in 2024 at a cost of $200 million. The report states that "inefficient scheduling may be partially responsible for widespread overtime use." (Reporting and editing by Edward Tobin; David Shepardson)
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Nine First Nations in Canada challenge the constitutionality of major projects legislation
Nine First Nations are challenging the constitutionality of a recently passed law that aims to accelerate major projects. They claim it violates the constitutional obligations of government to First Nations. According to an application filed at the Ontario Superior Court, the two new laws are "a clear and present threat to the self-determination of the Applicant First Nations" and violates the obligation for the government to reconcile with First Nations. Alderville First Nation was represented by Apitipi Anicinapek Nation. Aroland First Nation included Attawapiskat First Nation. Fort Albany First Nation included Ginoogaming First Nation. The law passed by the federal government last month was a quick one. It allows the government to select projects that are in the "national interests" and decide if certain laws apply. Mark Carney, Liberal Prime Minster, hopes to keep his campaign promise of speeding up approvals for what he refers to as nation-building projects. This could include mines and oil pipes. The Ontario law passed early in June allows the government declare "special economic areas" which exempt certain projects from provincial laws. The two laws have been criticized by environmentalists who claim they ignore legislation intended to reduce ecological harms and Indigenous groups, who assert that they violate their right to self-determination as well as the duty of the government to consult. The court document states that the national law allows Canada to "unilaterally push through projects without meaningful engagement" with First Nations. The Canadian government's spokesperson did not immediately reply to requests for comment on Tuesday. The Premier of Ontario, a spokesperson said that the province will continue to work with First Nations to develop consensus on shared priorities. In an email, they stated that "We have started productive conversations with First Nations communities who share our vision for unlocking economic opportunities and critical infrastructure and will continue consultations through the summer." (Reporting and editing by Aurora Ellis in Toronto, Anna Mehler Paperny)
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Embraer CEO: US tariffs may have pandemic effect on the planemaker.
According to its CEO, the 50% tariff that U.S. president Donald Trump intends to impose starting in August on Brazilian exports could have a similar impact on revenues as the COVID-19 epidemic. The Chief Executive Francisco Gomes Neto said to reporters that tariffs may lead to order cancellations, delayed deliveries, reduced investments, and job cuts. They could also generate an additional cost of $9 million for each airplane exported to the U.S. Embraer is the third largest planemaker in the world after Airbus. The U.S. accounts for 45% of commercial jet exports, and 70% of executive jet exports. Gomes Neto stated that "given the importance of this market, if we continue to implement this (tariff plan), we will see a similar impact as COVID-19, in terms of a decline in revenue for the company." He said that a 50% tariff on commercial jets would be like a trade embargo, particularly for Embraer’s E1 narrow body aircraft, which would make shipments to U.S. carriers "unfeasible." The executive insisted that no orders had been cancelled so far. Embraer shares listed in Sao Paulo, which had been up around 3% in the morning, were volatile after Gomes Neto made his remarks. The gains were erased, and then the stock ticked back up by 1%. (Reporting and writing by Gabriel Araujo, editing by Brad Haynes and Kylie Madry; Andre Romani is the writer; Brad Haynes is the editor)
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Air India resumes international flights after the June crash
Air India announced on Tuesday that it will partially restore the international flight schedule which was reduced following the crash of its flight last month, in which 260 people were killed. Air India, as part of its restoration program, will begin a three-times weekly service between Ahmedabad (India) and London Heathrow (England) from August 1, replacing the current five-times a week flights between Ahmedabad (India), and London Gatwick. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which was bound for London via Ahmedabad in India, began to lose thrust shortly after takeoff and crashed on June 12, 2012. The plane crashed on June 12 after losing thrust. All but one person on board, and 19 people on the ground, were killed. Air India reduced certain international flights after the crash, as part of a'safety pause' that allowed the carrier to conduct additional precautionary inspections on its Boeing 787 planes. Air India announced that partial service will be restored starting August 1 and full service is planned to resume on October 1, 2025. Air India reduced its flights to certain destinations in Europe and North America as part of a partial resume. Air India has reduced the frequency of flights from Delhi to Paris, which was previously 12 times per week. This reduction took effect on August 1, 2009. The number of flights on the Delhi-Milan routes has been reduced from four to three per week. According to the airline, flights between Mumbai and Delhi have been reduced to six weekly departures from seven previously. (Reporting and editing by Nishit Navigation; Pooja Deai)
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Steyr Automotive, Austrian company, wins order for large electric trucks from Chinese firm
Steyr Automotive, Austria's electric truck manufacturer, announced on Tuesday that it has received an order from China's SuperPanther to produce electric trucks in Europe for its sale. Chinese automakers are expanding in Europe. They are betting on their low prices and advanced technology, to penetrate a market that is traditionally dominated only by European and American brands. This expansion has stoked tensions in trade between Brussels and Beijing. There is also a dispute over EU tariffs imposed on EVs made in China to protect European producers. China can avoid tariffs on its models if they are manufactured in Europe. Steyr and SuperPanther have signed a production agreement for electric trucks. No financial details have been disclosed. Oberösterreichische Nachrichten, a local newspaper, reported that Steyr could be producing thousands of electric trucks on the European market by 2021 after it was purchased from Germany's MAN. Steyr said that the tractor units would be produced with two axles as it is in Europe. This contrasts the three-axle SuperPanther model manufactured in China. The Austrian company said that SuperPanther will sell up to 16,00 electric trucks in Europe before 2030, and that production of the vehicle will begin next year. SuperPanther didn't immediately respond to a request from for comment. Reporting by Alexandra Schwarz Goerlich and Paolo Laudani, editing by Barbara Lewis
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Tesla's robotaxi service expands as Alphabet Waymo gains speed
Alphabet Waymo robotaxis drove more than 100,000,000 miles without a driver, and doubled the mileage in just six months. The company is accelerating deployment in U.S. Cities amid increasing competition. Waymo is expanding its service as Tesla expands their self-driving cab service. This follows a recent small test with a few Model Y SUVs on a restricted area in Austin, Texas. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has stated that Tesla will launch the service in several U.S. Cities by the end 2025. However, Waymo has been slowly expanding its service with around 1,500 cars for many years. The service is available in San Francisco, Phoenix, Austin, Atlanta, Los Angeles and other Bay Area cities. Saswat Pantigrahi, Waymo’s chief product officer said, "Reaching the 100 million fully automated miles represents years' worth of methodical progress that is now accelerating to rapid, responsible scale-up." As we continue to expand our service, we will face new challenges. Waymo has logged 71 million miles of autonomous driving as of March. This is up from 50 millions miles at the end 2024, and 25 million during July 2024. It completed its first mile in January 2023. The commercialization of autonomous vehicles is more difficult than expected. High costs, strict regulations, and federal investigations have forced many to close down, including General Motors Cruise. Amazon's Zoox is one of the few remaining competitors. It tests a vehicle that does not have manual controls, such as a pedal or steering wheel, and it plans to launch its commercial services this year in Las Vegas. Waymo, the U.S. company that operated unmanned taxis for paying passengers before Tesla launched its robotaxi last month was the only one. After collisions, federal agencies have launched investigations into Waymo and Tesla as well as recalling Zoox and other vehicles. Musk, despite multiple traffic problems and driving errors as Tesla teetered into the robotaxi industry after years of broken promises, expanded the service area to Austin and announced last week that it will roll out its services in the San Francisco Bay Area in two months. Waymo announced in March that it plans to launch a fully autonomous ride-hailing service in Washington, D.C., next year. It has applied to operate autonomous vehicles with a trained specialist at the wheel in Manhattan. Robotaxis, which began as a small Google project for self-driving cars in 2009, and were spun off seven years later, cover over two million miles a week. By May, the company had completed more than 10 millions autonomous trips. This is up from the 5 million trips it was expected to complete by the end of 2024. (Reporting and editing by Himani Sarkar in San Francisco, with Abhirup Roy reporting from San Francisco)
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Trump's threat of sanctions looms on Russian oil exports towards China, India and Turkey
U.S. president Donald Trump has threatened to impose sanctions on buyers of Russian products unless Russia agrees to a peace agreement over the conflict in Ukraine. This could complicate Moscow's oil exports to China, India, and Turkey. RUSSIA'S GRADES AND PORTS OF OIL According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), Russia's revenues from crude oil and petroleum products sales in June fell by nearly 14% compared to a year ago, to $13.57 Billion. The IEA reported that Russia's crude production remained stable last month at 9.2 millions barrels per daily (bpd), and crude loadings stayed at 4.68million bpd. The IEA reported that its exports of oil and petroleum products fell by 110,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 2.55million bpd. Russia exports Urals oil, Siberian Light oil and CPC Blend oil grades through its western ports such as Primorsk Ust-Luga, and Novorossiisk. The port in Murmansk, located in northern Russia, also loads smaller quantities of Arctic oil and ARCO grades as well as Novy port grades. Russia exports the ESPO Blend and the Sokol & Sakhalin Blend, both from Sakhalin Island in the Pacific. Pipelines connect Russian oilfields with China and European nations. Only Hungary and Slovakia still buy oil from Russia as part of the exception to European Union sanction. Russia provides its oil pipeline network to transit oil from Kazakhstan to its ports, and via the Druzhba pipeline to Germany. Russia exports oil to Belarus, which is home to two major refineries. MAIN BUYERS China is the biggest buyer of Russian crude oil. This is mainly due to the direct pipeline connections with Russian fields: the Skovorodino Mohe oil pipeline and Kazakhstan's Atasu Alashankou oil pipe enter the country, while the remaining oil purchased by Chinese refineries via sea. China imports about 2 million bpd from Russia – mainly ESPO Blend and Sokol Blend as well as some Urals, Arctic and Arctic oil. According to calculations, that's around $130,000,000 per day. Energy companies CNPC and Sinopec as well as independent refining units are the main buyers. India is Russia's second largest oil buyer and its main buyer of Urals oil. India also buys ESPO Blend, Sokol, and Arctic grades of oil from Russia. According to Kpler ship tracking data, India imports about 1.8 millions bpd of Russian oil. Russian oil is used by most Indian refiners including Reliance Industries which owns the largest refinery in the world. The oil is also sent to Nayara Energy - a private refiner in which Rosneft, a Russian company, has a stake - as well as Indian Oil, ONGC and Indian Oil. According to LSEG, the third largest importer of Russian crude oil, Turkey, increased its purchases in June to a record annual level of 400,000 bpd. Turkey's increased purchases of Russian crude oil was due to the price drop of the Russian grade. Since April 1, Urals Oil has consistently traded below the $60 price cap per barrel. Turkey's STAR Refinery, controlled SOCAR in Azerbaijan, is the largest buyer of Russian crude oil, and another refiner, Tupras also purchases Urals-grade oil. OIL PRODUCTS Russia exports around 2.5 million bpd fuel products including diesel, gasoline, naphtha and fuel oil. Since 2023, Russia also has diverted its oil product sales from Europe to Asia. Moscow is the largest diesel supplier in Brazil and Turkey. It also supplies large volumes of fuels to African nations such as Ghana, Egypt and Morocco. OTHERS Moscow also exports oil and other products to countries that it calls "friendly", i.e., those with which it has continued to do business. Syria is among the buyers, along with countries like Pakistan, Cuba, and Sri Lanka. (Reporting and Editing by Sharon Singleton).
Portugal expects that large non-EU carriers will also show an interest in TAP
Luis Montenegro, the Prime Minister of Portugal, said that Portugal expects to attract large airlines from both within the European Union as well as outside the bloc due to its untapped potential.
Portugal has relaunched its long-delayed TAP privatisation on Thursday. The aim is to sell a stake of 44.9% to a company that can bring scale and global competitiveness to the airline, while also offering an additional 5% for TAP staff.
In the last year, three major European airlines, Lufthansa and Air France-KLM as well as British Airways owner IAG have met with the government to discuss TAP.
Air France-KLM confirmed its interest in the process after Thursday's announcement. It said it "will take part once all details have been released".
Montenegro also said that he expected non-EU carriers would express interest. However, he did name any potential bidders. He said at a press conference that TAP integrating "into larger group with greater capacity to create synergies has untapped potential which is very positive, appealing and valuable".
The Portuguese flag carrier’s sale model allows an airline to partner up with private investors or investment funds, and then submit a bid together.
The government is keen to keep and even expand its links with Brazil, Portuguese-speaking African nations, and the United States, as well as its hub in Lisbon.
Montenegro stated that Portugal also wishes to increase the airport capacity of the cities of Porto and Faro as well as the autonomous regions Madeira and Azores.
(source: Reuters)