Word: baltic
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...Russia insists it is a reliable partner and blames Ukraine, which transits 80% of its gas exports, for the recent winter spats. Moscow's solution is to bypass Ukraine and supply Western Europe directly through the Nord Stream pipeline (to Germany, via the Baltic Sea) and the South Stream (to Bulgaria, via the Black Sea). But that would do nothing to ease the E.U.'s reliance on Russian gas, and most E.U. leaders don't see it as a viable option. Last month Barroso warned that "the E.U. must not sleepwalk into another gas crisis...
...Baltic Dry Index is the worldwide benchmark for shipping rates of raw materials, and it has registered some eye-popping gains over the past month. The London-based index registered its 23rd straight daily gain on Wednesday, closing at 4,291, its highest mark since September and the longest streak of gains since July 2006. Daily rates for the largest Capesize ships, which typically carry iron ore, rose 6.8% on Wednesday to $93,197. Just five months ago, daily ship-rental rates were hovering just above $2,000, about the price of a great seat on opening...
...Baltic Index president Jeremy Penn cautions that shipping rates can sometimes fluctuate dramatically, and are often driven by specific factors such as carrier availability in key locations. Indeed the current boost is best explained by Chinese steel production demand and a shortage of the Capesize vessels to haul the iron ore. Penn notes that it is not yet clear whether the core manufacturing that is turning again in China is linked to coming export demand or domestic infrastructure investment. "There are always quirks in the pricing," he notes. "And at the moment it seems a very China-centric market." (Read...
...territorial waters of Singapore, the world's busiest port. "The pile up of ships in the Straits is a reflection of the collapse in trade until the early part of this year," says P.K. Basu, Asia economist for the Daiwa Institute of Research. Mirroring that drop is the Baltic Dry Index, which tracks the average cost of shipping a container of goods. It has plummeted more than any stock market, from a peak of 11,000 in mid-2008 to roughly 2,600 today...
...Though maritime trade has been picking up recently due to a resumption in Chinese commodity imports, pushing up the Baltic Dry Index from its lows, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore estimates there are about 150 ships in the vicinity of the island-state, although the number of vessels could be significantly higher than the official figures. That's in addition to 400 to 500 ships that are using Singapore's port at any given time. Most of the vessels outside Singapore are idle and have been stripped to skeleton crews of three or four in contrast...