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South Korea's MFG purchases about 60,000 tonnes of soymeal.
Major Feedmill Group of South Korea (MFG) bought an estimated 60,000 tons of soymeal in an international auction on Friday. The soymeal was expected to come from the United States or South America, traders reported. The cost of the ton was estimated at $364.66, including freight and a surcharge for port unloading. Olam is believed to have been the seller. The reports reflect the assessments of traders, and future estimates of price and volume are possible. The bidder requested one shipment for arrival in South Korea on or around July 25, Shipping was requested between May 28 and 16 if soymeal comes from South America; July 6-25 from China; and between June 22 to July 11 from the U.S. Pacific Northwest Coast. If the product is purchased from the United States of America or China, then only 59,000 tonnes are required. MFG was active on international markets last week. It bought 132,000 metric tonnes of animal feed corn at an international auction on Thursday, and 115,000 tons of feed wheat privately on Wednesday. Michael Hogan, reporting; David Goodman, editing
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Greek investigation into 2023 migrant vessel wreck finds coastguard violated maritime rules
Sources told Friday that Greece's Ombudsman found that the Coast Guard failed to adhere to maritime rules during one of the Mediterranean’s worst shipwrecks, in 2023. The coast guard raised the alarm after the overcrowded boat sank. The findings of the investigation by Greek Ombudsman Andreas Pottakis have not yet been published but confirm the testimonies of survivors. They have also been sent to the naval court that is investigating possible criminal acts by the authority. Pottakis, last week, recommended disciplinary actions against eight Coast Guard officers. He cited "clear indicators" of alleged negligence of duty that resulted in the endangerment of the lives of the people aboard the trawler called Adriana. The Shipping Ministry stated that the judicial authorities will evaluate the report, and that they trust the coast guard to "effectively protect" the Greek and EU border. When asked to comment, the Coast Guard authorities on Friday referred back to a statement from the Shipping Ministry. The Coast Guard monitored Adriana for fifteen hours before it capsized in international waters near Pylos, a town located southwest of Pylos. About 750 passengers were on board when it left Libya bound for Italy. Only 104 people are known to be alive. One source said that an investigation found the coastguard did not follow protocol, and he delayed the SAR operation while it waited for a boat to leave Greece and sail into Italy. The source said that "at no stage prior to the boat sinking was the risk escalated beyond monitoring into a distress or alert phase," citing a 148-page document which discredits the coast guard's statements that the vessel was seaworthy and the people on board didn't seek rescue. The sources also said that the Coast Guard did not respond to the calls of the European Union border agency Frontex and had never requested assistance. They also noted the lack of a response from the Coast Guard in responding to Frontex's requests for assistance and the deployment of just one vessel, which could carry up 36 people and was equipped with special forces and limited rescue equipment. Sources claim that the Coast Guard told two merchant vessels approaching Adriana to leave before it capsized. Rescue operations were delayed when people fell into the sea. According to sources, the coast guard failed to alert Adriana about its final approach and did not record coastguard communications during pivotal hours. This made it impossible to draw any conclusions regarding its capsize.
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India will remain a bright spot in petchem demand by 2025
Industry executives told the India Energy Week conference that India's petrochemical market will grow in 2025, despite the fact that global demand is still behind supply. This is due to a growing demand for household appliances, solar panels, and electric vehicle components. Sanjay Khanna, director of refineries at Bharat Oil, said that the company is seeing a good demand locally in sectors such as propylene. A S Sahney, chairman of Indian Oil, said that demand for oil is expected to be resilient in 2019. Petrochemicals can be used as building blocks in a wide range of products, including plastics, pharmaceuticals, and paints. Ganesh G. Gopalakrishnan is the global head of TotalEnergies petrochemicals trading. He said that there was a good demand in the automotive sector, while white goods are recovering. The global petrochemical market margins will remain low for several more years due to the weak demand of China, which is the world's largest petrochemical consumer. There is also an excess supply coming from new plants in China and Middle East. TotalEnergies Gopalakrishnan said that the industry was waiting for China to unveil its incentive plan in march. This could boost China's demand, and improve global margins on petrochemicals. Pankaj Srivastava is an analyst with Rystad Energy. He said that while Indian refineries have avoided losses by producing their own petrochemical naphtha feedstock, margins for standalone plants that rely on imported feed have been negative over the past 3-4 years. India continues to receive investments. Hardeep Singh Puri, India's oil minister, said that the country would receive $87 billion in investments over the next decade. This will be to meet the rising demand for petrochemicals. He said India consumes between 25 and 30 million metric tonnes of petrochemicals annually and that the chemical and petrochemicals industry, valued at currently $220 billion, will grow to $300 billion in 2025. Nayara Energy, Haldia Petrochemicals and other companies have already announced their plans to increase production. Petronet LNG has built a complex of petrochemicals in Gujarat, which includes a 750,000-metric-ton-per-year propane dehydrogenation and 500,000-metric-ton-per-year polypropylene unit. Akshay Kumar Sing, Chief Executive of Petronet LNG, said: "The downturn has always been cyclical. We hope margins recover in the next three years." (Reporting and editing by Florence Tan, Michael Perry, and Mohi Nrayan)
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Eneos aims at raising up to $3 billion via its metals unit IPO
JX Advanced Metals' (JXAM) shares will be listed in a $3 Billion share offering. This would be Japan's largest IPO since seven years. JXAM set an indicative offering price of 862yen ($5.64) for each share in advance of its Tokyo Stock Exchange listing on March 19. Final pricing will be set on March 10. Eneos plans to sell 465.2 millions shares of JXAM, with an option to purchase up to 69.8million shares. According to calculations by, the share sale could raise up to 461 billion dollars ($3.01 billion), giving Eneos a value of 800 billion dollars. Earlier this week, it was reported that Eneos hoped to raise 400 billion yen or more through its IPO. The refiner intends to use the proceeds to increase shareholder returns and for growth investments. According to LSEG, JXAM's IPO would be larger than Tokyo Metro's IPO last October and the largest listing Japan has seen since SoftBank's Telecoms Unit in 2018. JXAM, a leading manufacturer in sputtering target materials that are used to produce thin metal films for chip production. In the past financial year, the semiconductor materials segment of the unit contributed about a third to its operating income of 81 billion yen. JXAM invested in a plant in Arizona to manufacture sputtering target. Daiwa Securities is a global coordinator for the IPO, along with JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley. ($1 = 152.8600 Japanese yen) Reporting by Mariko Katsumura and Sam Nussey, Editing by Muralikumar Aantharaman
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Australia Iron Ore Ports Close to Prepare for Category 5 Cyclone
Australia's biggest iron ore export center, which is also the largest in the world, was braced for a powerful tropical storm on Friday, as residents rushed to stockpile essential supplies. The Australian weather bureau has upgraded Cyclone Zelia in the Indian Ocean, about 80 km north of Port Hedland. This is the highest category on the scale. The weather bureau reported that the system will make landfall near Port Hedland, in the Pilbara Region, on Friday night. It is expected to bring wind gusts up to 200 mph and heavy rains to a sparsely-populated stretch of 550 km. Forecaster Angus Hines stated that "we haven't yet seen the worst weather, but we are already seeing the rain numbers increase and some strong gusts of wind along the coast." Port Hedland, the largest iron ore exporter in the world, was shut on Wednesday. The ports of Varanus Island and Dampier, which are gathering and processing centers for oil and natural gas, were closed on Thursday. Cape Lambert also closed. Port Hedland, used by BHP, Fortescue, and Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting is also used by Rio Tinto. The ports of Dampier and Cape Lambert are where Rio Tinto ships iron ore. BHP Group and Fortescue both announced that Port Hedland operations were halted due to safety concerns and that teams were instructed to take shelter at their homes or camps. Fortescue also announced that it had closed its Iron Bridge mine and cancelled all non-essential Pilbara travel. Rio has cleared all operations at Cape Lambert and Dampier ports and no ships or trains are operating in its ports. Rio also reiterated that weather conditions will affect its first quarter shipments. Rio stated in a press release that the company was working to minimize impacts. It will also provide updates on its operations as necessary. The financial results of all three Australian iron ore mines are due to be released next week. Dalian's iron ore futures did not react to the potential disruptions in supply from Western Australia on Thursday. The market was still impacted by concerns about U.S. Steel Tariffs and possible Indian taxes. Iron ore is a primary raw material for steel. Port Hedland residents, the majority of whom work for mining companies, were advised to take shelter inside, while staff who are not essential have been relocated to safer locations. ABC News reported that some supermarkets were closed after people ran out of essential supplies. In April 2023 Cyclone Ilsa, a category 5 storm, hit the Pilbara as a category 5 storm, setting new wind speeds records, but mostly spared populated areas, including Port Hedland. (Reporting from Sydney by Renju José, Additional reporting in Melbourne by Melanie Burton; Editing Jamie Freed).
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Australia Iron Ore Ports Close to Prepare for Category 5 Cyclone
Australia's biggest iron ore port, and the largest in the world, was braced for a tropical cyclone on Friday. The closure of all major ports of import/export of commodities in the northwest of the country forced residents to stock up essential supplies. The latest warning from Australia's Weather Bureau said that Cyclone Zelia is located in the Indian Ocean, about 115 km north of Port Hedland. This storm has now been upgraded to category five, the highest rating. The weather bureau reported that the system will make landfall near Port Hedland, in the Pilbara Region, on Friday night. It is expected to bring wind gusts up to 200 mph and heavy rains to a sparsely-populated stretch of 550 km. Forecaster Angus Hines stated that "we haven't yet seen the worst weather, but we are already seeing the rain numbers increase and some strong gusts of wind along the coast." Port Hedland, the largest iron ore exporter in the world, was shut on Wednesday. The ports of Varanus Island and Dampier, which are gathering and processing centers for oil and natural gas, were closed on Thursday. Cape Lambert also closed. Port Hedland, used by BHP, Fortescue, and Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting is also used by Rio Tinto. The ports of Dampier and Cape Lambert are where Rio Tinto ships iron ore. Dalian iron ore prices did not rise on Thursday due to the potential disruptions in supply from Western Australia. Iron ore is a primary raw material for steel. Port Hedland residents, the majority of whom work for mining companies, were advised to take shelter inside, while staff who are not essential have been relocated to safer locations. ABC News reported that some supermarkets were closed after people ran out of essential supplies while stocking up. Reporting by Renju José in Sydney, editing by Jamie Freed
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Australia Iron Ore Ports Close to Prepare for Category 5 Cyclone
Australia's biggest iron ore port, and the largest in the world, was bracing itself on Friday against a powerful tropical storm. The closure of major ports of import/export of commodities in the northwest of the country forced residents to stock up essential supplies. The latest warning from Australia's Weather Bureau said that Cyclone Zelia is located in the Indian Ocean, about 115 km north of Port Hedland. This storm has now been upgraded to category five, the highest rating. The weather bureau reported that the system will make landfall near Port Hedland, in the Pilbara Region, on Friday night. It is expected to bring wind gusts up to 200 mph and heavy rains to a sparsely-populated stretch of 550 km. Forecaster Angus Hines stated that "we haven't yet seen the worst weather, but we've started to see rainfall numbers increase and some strong winds along the coast." Port Hedland, the largest iron ore exporter in the world, closed its port on Wednesday. Varanus Island and Dampier, which are gathering and processing centers for oil and natural gas, shut their ports on Thursday night. Cape Lambert also closed. Port Hedland, used by BHP, Fortescue, and Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting is where Rio Tinto ships iron ore. Dalian's iron ore futures did not suffer from the potential disruptions in supply due to Western Australia on Thursday. The market had been rising for two days amid fears over U.S. tariffs on steel and possible Indian taxes. Iron ore is a primary raw material for steel. Port Hedland residents, the majority of whom work for mining companies, were advised to take shelter inside, while staff who are not essential have been relocated to safer locations. ABC News reported that some supermarkets were closed after people ran out of essential supplies while stocking up. Reporting by Renju José in Sydney, editing by Jamie Freed
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Yemen's Houthis have said they will strike if the US and Israel attempt to move Gazans
Abdul Malik al-Houthi, leader of the Iran-backed Houthis group, said that the Houthis would immediately launch military action if Israel and the U.S. attempted to forcefully remove Palestinians from Gaza. A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza's 15-month-old devastating war came into effect on 19 January, but it has now appeared Close to collapse This week, there have been accusations of mutual violations. The Arab world has been infuriated by the plan that U.S. president Donald Trump presented to them. Permanently dispplace Palestinians from Gaza Take over the enclave and turn it into a resort. Houthi stated that his group would use drones, missiles and other weapons to attack vessels in Red Sea should the United States or Israel attempt to forcefully remove Palestinians from Gaza. Houthi stated, "I urge all armed forces in the country to be prepared for military action if criminal Trump follows through with his threats." Since November 2023, the Houthis have launched more than 100 attacks against ships near Yemen's shores in support of Gaza Palestinian militants who are fighting Israel. This has disrupted global shipping and caused route changes and losses. In the last year, the Iran-aligned group, which controls north Yemen, has fired many missiles at Israel in solidarity with Palestinians living in Gaza. Mohammed Ghobari, Jana Choukeir and Sharon Singleton edited by Mark Heinrich and Sharon Singleton.
UK-based Lloyd's Register apologises for its historic role in slavery
British maritime services firm Lloyd's Register apologised on Wednesday for its function in enslaving Africans in the 18th and 19th centuries.
A minimum of 12.5 million Africans were kidnapped, by force transported by European ships and sold into slavery from the 15th to the 19th centuries. Britain shackled over 3 million, and the City of London was the monetary centre of the trafficking.
The firm, established in 1760, stated research commissioned in 2022 revealed it had actually provided info about the seaworthiness of ships utilized to transport Africans throughout the Atlantic, facilitating the ships' sales and insurance.
LR, now owned by the Lloyd's Register Structure charity, added that a few of members of its governing committee were directly involved in the shackling or trafficking of Africans in that era.
What is clear from this initial research study is that, from our establishing in 1760 up until the UK's Slavery Abolition Act in 1833, we played a crucial function supporting a maritime system that enabled the servant economy, LR stated in a declaration on its website.
We are deeply sorry for this part of our history.
LR stated it was reacting with 2 immediate actions, granting 1 million pounds ($ 1.23 million) to a slavery archive project and proposing a collaboration with Liverpool's International Slavery Museum.
LR joins other British institutions that have actually acknowledged their links to slavery, including leading universities such as Cambridge, the Bank of England and brewery Greene King.
The apology comes as efforts to win reparations or other redress for historic wrongs continue to get momentum.
Supporters of reparations state slavery's tradition has actually caused relentless racial inequalities while opponents say countries and institutions should not be held responsible today for historic wrongs.
(source: Reuters)