Imports News

Cargo movements into and out of the United States could be re-shaped by proposals to levy fees on port calls by Chinese built or operated vessels, as well as potential sanctions based on whether the operator controls ships built in China or has tonnage on order there.In its Q1 2025 Dry Bulk Market Report, Maritime Strategies International (MSI) noted that as currently envisaged, the rules provide little clarity but could have a significant potential impact on North American dry bulk trades.

Iranian oil shipments into China are set to fall in the near-term after new U.S. sanctions on a refiner and tankers, driving up shipping costs, but traders said they expect buyers to find workarounds to keep at least some volumes flowing.Washington on Thursday imposed new sanctions on entities including Shouguang Luqing Petrochemical, a "teapot," or independent refinery in east China's Shandong province, and vessels that supplied oil to such plants in China, the top buyers of…

Alaskan state representatives will visit Japan this month to court investors for a natural gas project President Donald Trump says could pump trillions of dollars into the United States, but Japanese energy firms remain wary of its viability.Officials from the state-run Alaska Gasline Development Corporation (AGDC) and development partner Glenfarne Group will visit "allied Asian nations in late March to update industry leaders on Alaska LNG's economic and strategic competitive advantages…

The world's imports of liquefied natural gas are set to jump to the highest in a year in January as Europe's winter demand draws cargoes away from top-consuming region Asia.A total of 38.12 million metric tons of the super-chilled fuel is on track to be imported in January, up from 37.69 million in December and the most since January 2024's 38.73 million, according to data compiled by commodity analysts Kpler.The January volume is also the third-highest on record, underscoring…

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump does not intend to spare crude oil from his planned 25% import tariffs on Canada and Mexico, sources told Reuters on Tuesday, as the oil industry warned the policy could hurt consumers, industry and national security.Canada and Mexico are the top sources of U.S. crude oil imports, together accounting for around a quarter of the oil U.S. refiners process into fuels like gasoline and heating oil, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.The U.S.

Port Houston handled 3,430,212 TEUs through October of this year - 7% more than the same period last year. Container volumes in October specifically fell 15% compared to last October, reaching 309,623 TEUs.Despite this slight dip, volumes are expected to be solid through the end of this year. According to early market reports, activity is expected to surge in November and into the new year as users push volumes ahead of January’s labor contract expiration and the early Chinese New Year and factory closures in Asia.In October, loaded imports decreased by 13% and loaded exports dropped 21% compared to last year. Yet, total loaded container volumes remain up 6% year-to-date…

Concerns that Europe is facing a natural gas supply crunch this winter are overblown, with the liquefied natural gas (LNG) market already stepping up to avoid any shortfall, albeit at higher prices.European natural gas prices climbed to the highest level in two years last week, with the benchmark front-month contract at the Dutch TTF hub reaching 49.03 euros per megawatt hour on Nov. 22, equivalent to $14.97 per million British thermal units (mmBtu).Prices have rallied about 40% since mid-September amid fears that the remaining Russian pipeline supplies to Europe will be halted…

North Korea has likely received more than 1 million barrels of oil from Russia over an eight-month period this year in breach of U.N. sanctions, according to an analysis of satellite imagery published on Friday by the British-based Open Source Centre and the BBC.North Korean oil tankers have made more than 40 visits to Russia's Far Eastern port of Vostochny since March, the report on the research group Open Source Centre's website said."Dozens of high-resolution satellite images…

Iron ore futures soared on Monday, extending a rally spurred by hopes of an economic rebound for top steel producer and consumer China in the third quarter, and support for the country's troubled property sector.The most-traded iron ore, for September delivery, on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange DCIOcv1 ended daytime trade 7.1% higher at 711 yuan ($105.27) a ton, after earlier hitting 723.50 yuan, its strongest level since July 14.Iron ore's front-month August contract on the Singapore Exchange SZZFQ2 was up 2.2% at $105.40 a tonne…

In the first seven months of the year Chinese coal imports from Australia have totalled just 780,000 tons as Chinese restrictions on Australian coal have started to hurt, according to Oceanbolt. This represents a 98.6% drop compared with 56.8 million tonnes in the same period in 2020.In the first seven months of 2020, 697 voyages were made carrying coal between Australia and China. Out of these, 59.1% were on Panamax ships while Capesize ships proved the second most popular, accounting for 35.3%.

Chinese crude oil imports fell year-on-year in June and July, ending a streak of five months of accumulated year-on-year growth. After the first seven months of 2021, China’s crude oil imports are down 5.7% compared with the same period last year. January to July imports stood at 301.9m tons, an 18.1m tons decline from January to July 2020.The June and July decline in crude oil imports is not attributable to unusually low imports as much as to unusually high imports in June and…