Chile has been facing severe unrest for more than a month now, with a state of emergency declared in some parts of the country and curfew imposed in many regions. Although the country is slowly returning to normalcy after the National Congress of Chile agreed to reform the constitution, businesses have been badly affected across Chile.
At the time when the product tanker market is gearing for a rise in freight rates after the implementation of the IMO 2020 regulation, the recently published IEA’s World Energy Outlook 2019 portrays a grim picture for product tankers after 2025.
The recently concluded deal between China’s Wanhua Chemicals and Qatar Petroleum for LPG supply indicates the continued push by China to diversify away from US LPG in light of the US-China trade tensions.
Prices for new and second-hand shipping containers as well as lease rates fell in 3Q19 as factory stocks continued to build up and prospects for container shipping cooled.
As part of a series of initiatives aimed at bringing greater transparency to fuel costs resulting from the new IMO 2020 low-sulphur regulation, Drewry is pleased to announce the publication of its first low-sulphur reference bunker index tracker.
Underlying vessel operating cost inflation accelerated moderately in 2019 on higher repair & maintenance and insurance spend, while costs are expected to continue rising at a similar pace in 2020, according to Drewry’s latest Ship Operating Costs Annual.
With the enforcement date of the IMO 2020 low-sulphur regulation now only 6 weeks away, shippers and forwarders are starting to get their chequebooks out to help ocean carriers cover the additional cost of the cleaner, low-sulphur fuel.
Drewry and the European Shippers’ Council (ESC) have published a bunker adjustment factor indexing mechanism to help shippers monitor and control bunker charges in the run-up to and following the introduction of the IMO 2020 low-sulphur regulation.