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US FAA selects Peraton as the new head of air traffic control

The Federal Aviation Administration announced on Thursday that it had selected Peraton, owned by Veritas Capital and a national-security company, to be the project manager for a $12.5 billion effort to revamp the U.S. aging air traffic control system. After decades of complaining about airport congestion, technological failures, and flight delays, Congress approved in July a plan worth $12.5 billion to overhaul the system and increase controller hiring. Peraton is the only integrator that will manage this massive project, and it will deliver it on schedule without causing any disruptions to air traffic, according to the FAA. The FAA chose...

Transport Infrastructure

Tesla's German sales fell by a fifth during November

According to the German road traffic agency KBA, on Wednesday, the number of new registrations from Chinese electric car manufacturer BYD exceeded that from Tesla. KBA reported that Tesla sold 1,763 vehicles in Germany in November. This is 20.2% lower than the same month last year. Tesla sold 17,358 cars in the period January-November, which is 48.4% less than the same period the previous year. The volume of Chinese electric vehicles manufacturer BYD sales increased by more than nine times year-on-year in November, to 4,026 unit, reaching 19,197 units from the start of the year. KBA reported that the number...

Transport Infrastructure

Trump Administration to revamp Washington's Dulles Airport

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump said that his administration wanted to revamp Dulles International Airport, near Washington, D.C., describing it as "not a great airport." In October, Trump’s motorcade drove through the airport's property without prior notice to evaluate future projects. "We will also rebuild Dulles Airport, because it is not a good one. It should be an excellent airport. Trump told his cabinet during a meeting at the White House that it's not at all a good airport. "They have a beautiful building but a terrible airport." Trump has revealed a new design of Dulles Airport, which was opened...

Passenger Transportation Services

Rollins: US will announce a 'bridge payment for farmers' next week

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced on Tuesday that Trump's administration would announce next week a "bridge-payment" to farmers. The payment is intended to provide a short-term solution while the longer trade and assistance packages are finalized. Republican legislators and farm groups Have pushed The administration will issue aid to farmers who are facing low crop prices, and lost sales of billions of dollars in soybeans to China as a result during the tensioned trade talks between China and the United States. "We have a payment for a bridge." Rollins said to Trump during a Cabinet meeting at the White House:...

Transport Infrastructure

Sources say Citigroup will be charged $5 million to transport lead from Singapore.

Sources say that Grafton stored Citi's lead under a rental agreement. Trafigura has recently acquired Grafton Citi Looking at Taiwan and Malaysia By Pratima Desai Three sources familiar with the situation said that Citigroup would move its lead stocks out of Singapore and into Malaysia or Taiwan, at a cost estimated to be $5 million, due to a lack in storage space, as well as a lack of rent deals. After Trafigura purchased the warehouse company, Citi decided to remove its lead stocks and search for other rent deals. London Metal Exchange-approved warehouses are sharing rental income from their approved...

Passenger Transportation Services

Wall Street Journal, December 2,

These are the most popular stories from the Wall Street Journal. These stories have not been verified and we cannot vouch their accuracy. Costco sued the U.S. Government to make sure it gets a refund if the Supreme Court rejected President Donald Trump’s request for broad authority to impose tariffs. Apple has appointed Amar Subramanya, a veteran researcher and AI expert, as its new vice president. He replaces John Giannandrea. The Trump administration agreed to buy a stake in xLight, a startup that is developing free-electron lasers. These lasers are seen as a key component to creating faster computer chips....

Transport Infrastructure

US to withhold $30.4 Million from Minnesota due to foreign truck drivers' licenses

The U.S. Transportation Department announced on Monday that it could withhold up $30.4 million of federal highway funding to Minnesota due to improperly issued commercial driver's licenses to non-U.S. citizens. After a federal audit, the letter sent to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz gave Minnesota 30 days to comply and revoke licenses. After a fatal accident in Florida and an audit by the government, the Transportation Department issued emergency regulations to severely restrict commercial drivers licenses for non-U.S. Citizens. Walz's spokesperson did not respond immediately to a comment request. Separately USDOT announced that it would remove nearly 3,000 commercial license training...

Passenger Transportation Services

After a brief stopover due to a bomb threat, flights to Philadelphia International are now able resume.

According to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, and the police, flights to Philadelphia International Airport were temporarily grounded due to a threat of a bomb. The incident was resolved without incident. Soon after 7 pm local time (00:00 GMT), the FAA issued an advisory to ground staff at the airport, stating that there was a threat of a bomb. The FAA announced that the incident had been resolved and normal operations were resumed about 30 minutes after the initial announcement. A police spokesperson stated in an email that the ground stoppage occurred because of a "situation aboard the plane that...

Transport Infrastructure

Kenya seeks $1.5 billion in highway funding from China

Kenya and two Chinese firms will begin construction on a $1.5billion highway expansion in East Africa this Friday. This marks Beijing's return after years of absence to major infrastructure developments. The partners will finance the project in two phases using a combination of debt and equity. This model is becoming more popular after China's traditional loan model raised concerns about borrowers' debt loads. Kefa SEDA, Director General of Public-Private Partnerships at Kenya's Finance Ministry told the official launch that "we don't have the room to borrow more money." The project will upgrade a vital transport corridor connecting Kenya's port city...

Transport Infrastructure

Source: EU investigation is underway against MSC and BlackRock's bid for Hutchison Barcelona terminal.

BlackRock and MSC’s bid to buy most of CK Hutchison’s global port operations is facing a major obstacle in Europe. EU antitrust regulators are set to investigate the Spanish part of the deal. CK Hutchison, owned by Hong Kong tycoon Li Kashing, wants to sell 80% of its stake in the $22.8billion ports business. This includes 43 ports in 23 different countries. It is a politically sensitive transaction that has become entangled in tensions between China and the United States. BlackRock and MSC could be asked to make concessions in exchange for the clearance of the Spanish deal, as a...

Transport Infrastructure

Brookfield and GIC offer record $2.6 Billion for Australia's National Storage

National Storage REIT in Australia said that it received a buyout offer of A$4.02 Billion ($2.61 Billion) from a Brookfield-GIC consortium. This would be Australia's largest real estate privatisation. The consortium offered National Storage investors A$2.86 per share in cash, which is a premium of 26.5% over Tuesday's closing value. The deal would surpass Brookfield's A$1.27 Billion acquisition of Aveo Group by Brookfield in 2019. David Tuckwell said, Chief Investment Officer at ETF Shares: "This bid represents a huge vote of confidence for the Australian sector. It is also a very clever move by Brookfield." The demand for NSR is...

Transport Infrastructure

Sources say that Russia's Tuapse Port resumes fuel exports following a two-week suspension.

According to LSEG and two industry sources, Russia's Black Sea Port of Tuapse resumed exports of oil products last week, after a suspension for two weeks due to drone attacks by Ukraine. The local refinery also re-started processing crude oil. According to sources and data from ship tracking, the Gambia flagged tanker Sandhya departed Tuapse with 30,000 metric tonnes of gasoil on November 17, and was heading towards the Suez Canal. On November 18, the Satna, a tanker with the Malawi flag, loaded around 30,000 tonnes of gasoil. The traders claimed that the fuel stored in tanks on these two...

Europe

Transport Infrastructure

Analyst: Russian attacks on Ukrainian ports have reduced grain imports.

Analyst Barva Invest stated on Friday that the constant Russian attacks have caused Ukraine's export terminals to reduce grain intake. This has a negative impact on trading. Ukraine is a major corn exporter in the world. It relies on Black Sea Ports near Odesa for 90% of its agricultural products, which are targeted by Russian drones and missiles almost every day. Some ports and terminals have limited the acceptance of goods due to Russian shelling. This has further slowed down the trading activity in the Ukrainian corn markets, which were already struggling with complicated logistics and a lack of supply,"...

Transport Infrastructure

Mercuria's copper takeover from LME Asia increases supply anxiety

Four sources with knowledge of the matter have confirmed that commodity trader Mercuria plans to remove significant quantities of copper from London Metal Exchange storage facilities in Asia. Prices are rising on account of expectations of a shortage. LME copper prices reached a record of $11,540 per metric ton Wednesday, partly because of anticipated shortages in the coming year due to disruptions to mine supplies including accidents and incidents in Indonesia and Chile. Mercuria, a Swiss company, has cancelled or designated for delivery over 40,000 tonnes of copper stored in LME facilities in South Korea. Taiwan Sources familiar with the...

Transportation

Oil exports from Russia's Black Sea ports fell in November due to storms and drone attacks

Three industry sources said that oil exports from Russia's Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, and the CPC terminal, fell around 1 million tonnes short of schedule during November due to severe storms, drone attacks and disruptions in loading operations. The sources reported that Novorossiysk's scheduled loadings of Urals crude, Siberian Light, and KEBCO crude for November were around 3.2 million tonnes, but the actual exports only reached about 2.5 million tons. One source stated that "Novorossiysk continues to load November (scheduled cargoes), with operations expected continue until December 7." Two sources also reported that CPC Blend oil shipment delays were...

Western Europe

North Asia

Transport Infrastructure

Sources say that war insurance costs for shipowners are increasing as threats to the Black Sea grow.

Five shipping and insurance sources reported on Thursday that the cost of war insurance for ships sailing into the Black Sea has increased again. Insurers are reviewing policies every day as the conflict in Ukraine spills over onto sea lanes. Black Sea is vital for shipping grain, oil and oil-based products. Bulgaria, Georgia and Romania, as well Russia and Ukraine, share its waters. Hakan Fidan, the Turkish Foreign Minister, said on Wednesday that recent attacks on Russian-linked tankers on the Black Sea threatened the safety and security of everyone in the region. Ships entering Russian or Ukrainian Black Sea terminals...

Transport Infrastructure

Maritime body: Russian-flagged oil tanker reports an attack near Turkey coast

The Turkish maritime authority reported on Tuesday that a Russian-flagged oil tanker, sailing from Russia to Georgia with sunflower oil loaded aboard, was attacked near the Turkish coast. However, its 13 crew members were not injured. The Maritime Affairs Directorate reported that the vessel MIDVOLGA-2 had been attacked 80 miles (129 kilometers) off the Turkish coastline, but it did not request assistance. It was heading towards the Sinop port in Turkey. The report did not give any other details. Last Friday, Ukrainian drones targeted two tankers that were sanctioned in the Black Sea, as they approached a Russian port with...

Transport Infrastructure

After oil exports were halted, Kazakhstan told Ukraine to stop attacking the CPC terminal.

After a drone attack that severely damaged the loading infrastructure and halted oil exports, Kazakhstan asked Ukraine to stop attacking its Black Sea terminal, which is used by the Caspian Pipeline Consortium. This terminal handles more than 1 percent of all global oil. CPC, which has shareholders from Russia, Kazakhstan and the United States, announced that it had stopped operations after an attack by a Ukrainian drone on a mooring in its Russian terminal at the Black Sea caused significant damage. In an effort to undermine the Russian war economy, Ukraine launched a wave of attacks this year on Russia's...

Transport Infrastructure

Mayor says that Russian air defences have destroyed eight drones on their way to Moscow

The city's mayor reported that Russian air defences destroyed eight drones on their way to Moscow, just a day after an attack by Ukraine on a heat and power station had cut off the heating for thousands of people outside the Russian capital. According to the Russian Defence Ministry, 10 Ukrainian drones were downed in three Russian regions, including Moscow and Kaluga, as well as Bryansk which borders Ukraine, on Monday. In a press release, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin stated that emergency services are working on the site of the drones. The drone attack on the Shatura Power Station in...

Transport Infrastructure

India's weak demand for Urals oil leads to a widening of discounts on the oil

Sources say that the differentials between Russian Urals crude and other grades are under pressure due to the weakening value of the grade in India's ports. Three sources in the oil trade reported that discounts for Russian Urals crude have tripled in Indian ports since August compared to Brent dated as U.S. sanction drive key buyers from Moscow-supplied fuel. According to traders, the December Urals cargoes are currently trading at a discount of $5-$6 per barrel compared to Brent. This is about three times greater than the $1-2 seen in August. PLATTS WINDOW There were no bids or offers reported...

Transport Infrastructure

Polish PM: two of those responsible for the railway blast were Russian intelligence agents

The Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced on Tuesday that Poland had identified two individuals responsible for the explosion that occurred on a rail route leading to Ukraine. He added that these were Ukrainians that collaborated with Russian intelligence, and that they fled to Belarus. The explosion on the Warsaw-Lublin Line, which connects Poland's capital with the Ukrainian border, came after a wave arson, cyberattacks and sabotage in Poland and other European nations since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine. Warsaw said that Poland is now one of Moscow's main targets because it acts as a hub to aid Kyiv....

Transport Infrastructure

Rostec reports that defence exports have halved in the last 20 years as Russian orders dominate

Rostec, a Russian state-owned conglomerate, said that on Tuesday its defence exports had fallen by half since the year 2022 due to domestic orders becoming a priority in light of the conflict in Ukraine. However, Rostec expects a recovery within upcoming months. Sergey Chemezov, Rostec's chief executive officer, told reporters that until 2022 Russia ranked second in the world in terms of defence exports after the United States. However the volume has dropped "because we had to supply the majority of our production to our own army". He said that sanctions have caused problems in both the civil and defense...

Transport Infrastructure

Since Russia's invasion in 2022, Ukraine has developed long-range weapons

Last week, Ukraine attacked the port of Novorossiysk in Russia and forced it to suspend its oil exports. The Neptune rocket it used was one of many long-range weapons Ukraine developed since the invasion in 2022. According to Kyiv, here is a list of the new Ukrainian weapons. LONG NEPTUNE Ukraine claims its "Long Neptune", a land-attack cruise rocket with a maximum range of 1,000 km (621 mi), is produced domestically. The missile was developed using the Neptune antiship missile, which had a shorter range before the invasion. Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the President of Russia, announced in March that its range...

Transport Infrastructure

Oil falls after loadings resume at key Russian export hub

The oil prices dropped in the early Asian trading on Monday, wiping out the gains of last week, as loadings were resumed at Novorossiysk, the major Russian export hub, after a suspension of two days at the Black Sea Port that was hit by an attack from Ukraine. Brent crude futures fell 58 cents or 0.9% to $63.81 per barrel at 0050 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures traded at $59.50 per barrel, down by 59 cents or 1.0% since Friday's closing. The benchmarks both rose by more than 2% to close the week on a modest note. Exports...

Transportation

Sources and LSEG data show that oil loadings have resumed at Russia's Novorossiysk Port

Two industry sources and LSEG data show that the Russian port of Novorossiysk resumed oil loadings Sunday, after a suspension lasting two days due to a Ukrainian drone and missile attack. Novorossiysk temporarily halted oil exports on Friday, equating to 2.2 millions barrels of oil per day or 2% global supply. According to two anonymous industry sources, loadings have resumed. According to LSEG, two tankers - the Suezmax and Aframax classes Rodos - are loading oil on the port's berths. Two oil berths were damaged by a Ukrainian drone at the Russian Black Sea port Novorossiysk on Friday, which forced...

Transport Infrastructure

Discussions are underway about the airport project in Moldova with Lukoil, a Russian oil company

The airport director announced on Tuesday that talks are in progress between the Moldovan government and Russia's Lukoil about buying the energy company’s infrastructure at Chisinau Airport as part of an effort to implement U.S. Sanctions imposed last month. Serdgiu Spoiala stated that he did not see any risk of the airport running out of aviation fuel, after the government proposed to buy Lukoil’s facilities on Monday. The sanctions imposed by the United States on Lukoil and Rosneft were linked to the war that has lasted for more than three-and-a-half years in Ukraine. Currently, it is the only supplier of...

Transport Infrastructure

Sources say that Novatek has restored full operations at Ust-Luga’s condensate facility.

Two industry sources said on Tuesday that the Russian energy company Novatek had restored to full capacity its gas condensate facility at the Baltic Sea Port of Ust-Luga following repairs of damaged equipment caused by drone attacks in August. The fire was caused by Ukrainian drones on August 24. This led to the complete shutdown of the operation, including the fuel export loading. It is one of many disruptions in Russia's energy sector as Ukraine intensifies drone attacks during the ongoing conflict between the two neighbours. One source said that the daily processing of stable condensate (a type of lighter...