SHIPPING

PORTNEWS:
THE OCEAN FREIGHT MARKET SHOWED STEADY THIS WEEK:
The freight market was fairly steady this week. The BDI was up 2.93% to 597 points week over week.
The cape index was also increased 14.16% week over week and closed at 532 points while the Panamax
index was up 7 %. The supramax and handy size was slightly down closing at 619 points (down by 2.67
%) and 358 points (down by 7.25 %) respectively.
In the Far East/SE Asia, the freight rates were stable/soft with supramax charter rates for delivery
Singapore was around US$ 8,000 per day for a trip via Indonesia to India. Panamax charter rates were
steady and ships delivery Indonesia was fixed delivery China around US$ 5,000 per day for a trip to
India. Freight rates next week expected to be steady.
Source-vista shipping

Australia's Newcastle coal port shut due to storm:

Coal port shut since Monday night
Seven coal ships waiting to leave, ship queue undisclosed
Newcastle coal futures price up 10 pct. this week (Adds coal terminal operator comments)
Australia's Newcastle port, the world's biggest coal export port, has stopped all ship movements due to a
cyclonic storm lashing the country's east coast, a port spokeswoman said on Wednesday.
"Due to the weather event, no shipping movements occurred yesterday and port operations also paused,"
the spokeswoman said. "No shipping movements have occurred today."
Seven coal ships are waiting to leave the port, four from terminals operated by Port Waratah Coal
Services and three from a terminal run by Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group (NCIG).
The port operators declined to comment on how many coal ships were waiting offshore to pick up their
cargoes from the port, which last year exported 159 million tonnes of thermal and steel-making coal.
NCIG expected to start receiving trains again on Wednesday night, NCIG spokesman Chris Ford said.
Prices for coal cargoes delivered next month from Newcastle have soared 10 percent since the beginning
of the week to $68 a tonne as traders expected export delays due to the storm.
Exporters through Newcastle include BHP Billiton Ltd, Glencore Plc., Rio Tinto Ltd.
Source-Reuters

US Ports See Highest West Coast Market Share Since 2011:

North American west coast container ports experienced a slight increase in year-over-year traffic in the
third quarter of 2013. Overall throughput to major west coast ports in the U.S., Mexico and Canada rose
1.7 percent from 6,176,870 20-foot-equivalent containers in third quarter 2012 to 6,283,238 TEUs in third
quarter 2013.
Source-IHS

Cochin Shipyard launches the fifteenth fast patrol vessel:

Cochin Shipyard launched the fifteenth of the 20 Fast Patrol Vessels (BY 515) being built for Indian
Coast Guard, the company said in its press release.
On the occasion Capt. RS Sundar, Director (Operations), CSL laid the Keel of BY 51 6 the sixteenth
FPV. CSL has so far delivered 12 vessels in the 20 vessel series and the thirteenth vessel is getting ready
for sea trials. The twelfth vessel ICGS ANKIT was handed over to the Indian Coast Guard on 07 th April
2015.
Source-cochin ship yard

US ports need billions of dollars in landside investment to combat congestion:

One-third of U.S ports need at least $100 million in landside upgrades, both intermodal rail and road
connections, to handle projected 2025 freight volumes, according to a report from the American
Association of Port Authorities. Where ports will get that money was anyones guess at the AAPAs
annual springtime conference in Washington, D.C. Tuesday.
Source-IHS

DRY BULK
COAL INDEX:
Australian Coal Index (Price)
(US$/MT)
March 2015

64.95

Last updated 22 April- 2015

Australian thermal coal, 12,000 btu per pound (~6,667 kcal/kg), less than 1% sulfur, 14% ash, fob $/Mt
piers, Newcastle/Port Kembla (World Bank).
South African Coal Index (Price)
(US$/MT)

March 2015

61.01

Last updated 22-april-2015

Coal (South Africa), thermal, f.o.b. Richards Bay, 90 days forward delivery; 6,000 kcal/kg, during 20022005, 6,200 kcal/kg (11,200 btu/lb.); during 1990-2001 6390 kcal/kg (11,500 btu/lb.).
Source-world bank, IMF

BHP blinks as iron ore prices fall, delays output boost:

BHP defers iron ore output increase to 290 million tonnes
* Move seen as bet on longer-term iron ore recovery
BHP Billiton is slowing down its expansion plans in iron ore, the first big miner to pull back as a global
supply glut sends ore prices tumbling.
The world no. 3 producer said it would delay an Australian port project that would have boosted output by
20 million tonnes and buoyed annual output to 290 million tonnes by mid-2017.
Two small iron ore firms have recently shut mines in Australia because of low prices and Goldman Sachs
says half the worlds so-called "tier two" miners are at risk of closure.
Spot iron ore prices .IO62-CNI=SI have fallen 60 percent in the past year on surging output blamed on
overestimates of China's appetite for imported ore by mega miners BHP, Vale and Rio Tinto .
Analysts, however, do not expect the big-tonnage miners like Rio, who have ignored calls to curtail
expansions to revive prices, to follow BHP's lead.
Source-Reuters

China's Q1 iron ore imports from Australia up 22.2 pct. on year:

China's iron ore imports from Australia rose 22.2 percent to 144.4 million tonnes in the first quarter from
a year earlier, customs data showed on Wednesday, as major producers ramped up production and
increase shipments.
Imports from Australia jumped 26.6 percent to 51.55 million tonnes in March from a year ago, data from
the General Administration of Customs showed.
Total imports by China rose 2.4 percent to 227.1 million tonnes in the first quarter from the same period
of last year.
China's imports of iron ore from Brazil, its second-largest supplier after Australia, inched up 0.6 percent
to 41.8 million tonnes in the first quarter from a year ago. Shipments in March dropped 2.5 percent to
14.48 million tonnes
Source-Reuters

WET
Shale Output expected to decrease:
U.S. output in shale formations is expected to fall as soon as next month, according to the U.S. Energy
Information Administration. Oil production decreases due to spending cuts and decline from aging fields,
combined with demand growth, are likely to push prices higher in the next six months to two years, said
Ralph Eads, vice chairman and global head of energy investment banking at Jefferies Group Inc
Source-reuters

Canada's NWT borrowing boost may help unlock stranded oil and gas:
Canada's Northwest Territories will be able to borrow an extra C$500 million to fund new infrastructure
projects and potentially tap stranded oil and gas reserves after the federal government upped its borrowing
cap in the budget on Tuesday.
The new borrowing limit of C$1.3 billion is less than the C$1.8 billion requested by the NWT but still a
huge boost to the vast but sparsely populated territory, home to nearly 25 percent of Canada's natural gas
reserves.
The NWT mainland, Arctic islands and Beaufort Sea hold 16.4 trillion cubic feet gas, as well as 1.2
billion barrels of crude oil, according to the National Energy Board.
But the majority of resources are not accessible by road, rail or pipeline, making oil and gas development
prohibitively expensive.
The NWT now plans to improve infrastructure in a region twice the size of France and a population of
just 43,600.
"We are pleased. We have not made any specific decisions yet but our priority is to invest in infrastructure
that will support economic growth in the NWT," said Shaun Dean, director of Cabinet communications
for the territorial government.
"That includes facilitating greater access to all the territory's resources and supporting responsible
development."
Better infrastructure will also cut the cost of living in remote communities, which pay hefty prices for
food and fuel to be flown in.
Source-CBC

Sour gas from oil wells a deadly problem in southeast Saskatchewan

The Saskatchewan government says there is a growing problem with oil wells in the province releasing
levels of hydrogen sulphide (H2S), or sour gas, many times higher than what would kill a person.
At 1,000 parts per million (ppm), sour gas is instantly fatal. The Ministry of the Economy said it tested
43 facilities in southeast Saskatchewan that were leaking sour gas "with average concentrations at 30,000
ppm." That's 30 times higher than the level that is fatal to humans.
In one case, a well emitted 150,000 ppm.
Source-CBC

Japanese LNG imports rise for fourth month as oil-linked prices drop by $100 a tonne
Japanese liquefied natural gas imports rose in March for a fourth straight month, increasing by 1.2 percent
as long-term contract prices indexed to oil dropped by almost $100 per tonne.
Japan received more shipments from Asia and the Middle East but fewer from Australia because of plant
outages, according to the preliminary trade figures just published by the Ministry of Finance
Shipments of LNG to Japan's more than 30 import terminals amounted to 8.14 million tonnes in March
compared with 8.04MT in the same month a year ago and 7.73MT in February 2015.

BUNKERING
Sri Lanka: SLPA Seeks Private Sector "Bail Out" for Hambantota Bunkering:
The Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) Monday was said to be urgently looking for joint venture
partners to run bunkering services Hambantota Port, Sri Lankan media reports.
Bunkering services are said to have ground to a halt since a shakeup following presidential elections were
concluded in January.
According to a maritime industry source, private firms looked to gain a foothold in Hambantota
bunkering three years ago, "however due to reasons best know to the SLPA they had decided to carry on
this operation."
Source-Ship&bunker

Chinese Floating Islands Could Become New Bunkering Locations:

Large "floating islands" proposed by a collaboration of two Chinese companies could be used for a host
of purposes, including bunkering, Popular Science reports.
The collaboration, which is understood to be between construction company Jidong Development
Group (JDG) and Hainan Hai Industrial Company, is proposing to build a range of large floating
islands of up to 900 meters (m) by 120m.
Assuming a hull draft of 16m, full displacement of the 900m by 120m model could be 1.5 million tons at
full load.
The first island is said to be planned as a deep sea support locations in the South China Sea
Source-Ship&bunker

Carriers benefiting from steady fall in bunker fuel prices:

Container lines continue to see their operating costs fall thanks to the steady decline in their largest cost,
bunker fuel. Some of those savings are passed onto shippers through lower fuel surcharges.