European Union regulators opened an
antitrust investigation into container liner shipping companies,
saying they signaled pricing changes to each other with press
and website statements.
“Since 2009, these companies have been making regular
public announcements of price increase intentions through press
releases on their websites and in the specialized trade press,”
the EU said in an e-mailed statement today. “These
announcements are made several times a year and contain the
amount of increase and the date of implementation, which is
generally similar for all announcing companies.”
The pricing announcements may allow the companies to signal
future pricing plans to each other and could allow them to raise
prices on transport services to and from Europe, regulators
said.
The European Commission didn’t identify the companies in
the probe in today’s statement.
AP Moller-Maersk A/S, owner of the world’s largest
container shipping company, CMA CGM SA and Hapag-Lloyd were
among companies raided by EU officials in 2011 over possible
collusion. EU regulators are also gathering market information
over a pact between Maersk, CMA CGM and Mediterranean Shipping
Co. to create the largest container alliance.
Shipping companies have not yet understood how they should operate without the price collusion they were accustom to in the old days of conferences. It's a new world, but they just don't get it.
It looks good on paper. Note the comment " persistently
volatile environment". Which is true for all companies in international shipping. Rough waters ahead.
2013 third quarter financial results
Improvement in operating margin to 6.6%; Record high
volumes carried; An effective operating model in a persistently
volatile environment
The Board of Directors of CMA
CGM Group, the world’s third largest container shipping group, met under
the chairmanship of Jacques R. Saadé, Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer, to review the financial statements for the third quarter 2013.
During
the period, consolidated revenue amounted to $4.1 billion, up 1.4% over
the second quarter and down 2.1% year-on-year. Volumes carried rose by
11.0% year-on-year to 3.0 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), a
new historical record for the Group. The average revenue per TEU
declined by 11.8% year on year, when Asia-Northern Europe market rates,
as measured by the SCFI, contracted by more than 45% over the quarter.
This
performance in terms of volumes and price resistance illustrates CMA
CGM’s resilience in a market that remains extremely volatile. The Group
is evidencing the benefits derived from its size and global presence,
which are enabling it to diversify its activities by geography, customer
category and service solution, particularly in its onshore operations.
During the third quarter, CMA CGM reported:
-
$238 million in consolidated EBIT, versus $541 million in the
third-quarter 2012. Excluding non-recurring items, core EBIT stood at
$271 million for the period.
- A 6.6% EBIT margin before non-recurring items, one of the highest in the industry.
-
$70 million in consolidated net profit for the period, bringing the
total to $434 million for the first nine months of the year.
Business
in the third quarter contributed to maintaining consolidated cash and
cash equivalents at nearly $1.1 billion. Net debt amounted to $3.7
billion as of 30 September, for a gearing ratio of 0.77.
Significant events during the quarter
As
part of their future P3 operational alliance, CMA CGM, Maersk Line and
MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company SA finalized their operating
agreements on the Asia-Europe, Transatlantic and Transpacific trades. As
announced, subject to the approval by the various regulatory
authorities, these services will be deployed in second-quarter 2014.
CMA
CGM has signed a strategic contract with SAP to implement a new
information system dedicated to container shipping that will be deployed
starting late 2015. This investment will enable the Group to improve
its operating performance.
Outlook for 2013
To
further strengthen the Group’s liquidity position, an additional $200
million securitization programme was set up in October 2013.
Lastly, Moody’s has upgraded the Group’s rating to B2 with a stable outlook.
Given
the usual year-end seasonal variations and currently prevailing freight
rates, performance in the final three months of the year will likely
see a decline compared with the third quarter 2013.
Financial Highlights
Q3 2012
Q3 2013
2012 year to date
2013 year to date
Change (%)
Revenue in $ billions
4.2
4.1
11.9
12.0
+0.3%
EBIT in $ billions
+541
+238
+828
+852
+2.9%
Adjusted EBIT* in $ billions
+541
+271
+822
+638
-22.4%
Consolidated net profit in $ millions
+363
+70
+284
+434
+52.6%
Return on invested capital***
8.3%
10.9%
8.3%
10.9%
N/A
Volumes carried in TEU millions**
2.7
3.0
8.0
8.5
+7.0%
Fleet (number of vessels
412
430
412
430
+4,4%
Fleet capacity in TEU thousands*
1,425
1,559
1,425
1,559
+9.4%
* Excluding non-recurring items (asset disposals and impairment losses)
** TEU = twenty-foot equivalent units
*** Calculated over a rolling 12-month period
0537 |
origin_ssl_mode: 0
The other item of interest is the price of oil. It topped $100 the first of the year when everyone thought
the economies were improving (and hedge funds were trading in oil), but then it dropped, and
then came back up. It's in the 90's now. It should really be lower, but there is too much manipulation
in the market.
Just hope this doesn't get thrown out because of the CFTC blunder. If I were a shipping company,
I would start a lawsuit against these folks, because they cost you a lot of money in fuel costs. Well, they cost all of us a lot of money.
Some of the world’s largest oil
traders including Vitol Group, Morgan Stanley and Royal Dutch
Shell Plc (RDSA) are asking a judge to stop the disclosure of millions
of records gathered by the top U.S. commodity regulator during
its nationwide investigation of the crude markets.
The haul includes e-mails, depositions, trading records and
audio files obtained by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading
Commission since its probe of the oil market began in December
2007. The companies appealed an Oct. 25 order by U.S. District
Judge William H. Pauley that would allow the handover of the
trove to lawyers leading a civil case alleging market
manipulation by firms controlled by Norwegian billionaire John Fredriksen. The U.S. Court of Appeals in New York today ordered
a temporary stay halting the release of the records while it
considers speeding up review of the challenge.
The battle over the records reveals for the first time the
breadth of the CFTC’s investigation. The agency told Pauley in
August that 5.7 million documents and almost 200,000 audio files
had been sent to the defendants in the manipulation case. Many
of the files came from the national probe.
“Society needs more inspection of trading in the crude oil
markets, not less,” said Chris Lovell, an attorney with Lovell
Stewart Halebian Jacobson LLP in New York, who is leading the
case and seeking class action status on behalf of traders who
claim to have lost money because of alleged manipulation.
“These guys should be subject to more transparency. I think
we’d all be better off.”
‘Highly Confidential’
Pauley’s Oct. 25 order sharply restricts access to
materials from the CFTC cache that the companies claim are
“highly confidential.” Circulation of the documents will be
limited, and Lovell and other attorneys involved in the civil
case will have to sign declarations promising to comply with the
confidentiality provisions. Use of the files for any other
business purpose, such as trading strategies or unrelated
lawsuits, is forbidden.
The case stems from the CFTC’s 2011 claims against Nick
Wildgoose and James Dyer, traders at Fredriksen affiliates
Parnon Energy Inc. in Houston and Arcadia Petroleum Ltd. in
London. They are accused of manipulating the oil market in 2008
as prices rocketed toward $147 a barrel. The defendants have
denied the allegations. Some of the companies whose records were
disclosed to Parnon earlier this year weren’t notified until
after the files were sent, court records show.
“We believe the CFTC may have improperly disclosed certain
records,” said Brad Leone, a spokesman for Plains All American
Pipeline LP (PAA), one of the companies appealing Pauley’s order.
Trading Fraternity
The dispute is the latest blow for a trading fraternity
that has long prized secrecy.
In May, the European Commission raided the offices of
Shell, BP Plc and Statoil ASA along with price reporting company
Platts as part of a probe into how benchmark energy prices are
set. The commission hasn’t charged any of the companies with
wrongdoing. Last month, four longtime traders on the New York
Mercantile Exchange filed a lawsuit claiming they can prove that
BP, Statoil and Shell conspired with other firms, including
Morgan Stanley and Vitol, to manipulate Brent crude, a benchmark
used to price more than half the world’s oil.
Shell, Morgan Stanley (MS), Vitol, Plains and Castleton
Commodities International LLC have appealed Pauley’s order.
Spokesmen for Vitol, Shell and Morgan Stanley declined to
comment; an attorney for Castleton didn’t return calls and an e-mail seeking comment.
‘Public Interest’
“These documents obviously have public interest value,”
said Michael Greenberger, a former director of trading and
markets at the CFTC and a law professor at the University of
Maryland. “Within the CFTC papers, there may be evidence of
manipulation of the market that has not been acted upon
aggressively by the CFTC.”
Despite the confidentiality restrictions and the CFTC’s
redactions, the files have already put lawyers for Wildgoose and
Dyer “tantalizingly close” to identifying a confidential
informant whose tip led to the charges, Jonathan P. Robell, a
CFTC attorney, said during an Aug. 29 hearing.
At least one informant told the CFTC about Parnon’s trading
“and essentially said there’s something rotten, if not in
Denmark, in Cushing, Oklahoma,” Pauley said at an Aug. 2
hearing.
Parnon’s lawyers used the CFTC records to find and subpoena
the informant’s attorney and identify the company the whistle-blower worked for, court records show. Documents including the
identity of the informant’s attorney were sealed by the court.
WTI Manipulation
The CFTC in May 2011 accused Parnon of manipulating prices
of West Texas Intermediate crude available at Cushing, the
delivery point for the U.S. benchmark Nymex futures.
Parnon and its affiliates, subsidiaries of Fredriksen’s
Cyprus-based Farahead Holdings Ltd., bought up a large share of
WTI, then exploited its dominant position to create a perception
that supplies were scarce in January 2008 and again March 2008,
the CFTC said. That drove prices higher, allowing them to make
money on a sizable derivatives bet, the CFTC said.
Wildgoose and Dyer then dumped their supplies, sending oil
into a tailspin while profiting on derivatives that rose in
value as prices fell, the CFTC said. The abrupt selloff cost the
firm $15 million, which was more than offset by a $50 million
gain on their paper positions.
Attorneys representing the defendants declined to comment.
Viking King
Fredriksen, a shipping magnate known within the industry as
“The Viking King,” said in May 2011 that the CFTC’s lawsuit
was “rubbish.”
“This came as a surprise to me, I wasn’t aware of it,”
Fredriksen said in an interview outside Oslo at the time.
“Those who work with buying and selling oil, that’s how they
operate all of them. It’s completely normal.”
Plains told the court that the company provided more than 1
million pages to the CFTC, including transcripts of confidential
depositions of Plains employees. Court records show the CFTC in
2010 deposed John von Berg, a senior vice president with Plains,
and Hugo Zagaria, a director with the company.
Plains provided its records to the CFTC “in response to an
unsolicited subpoena associated with a proceeding for which
Plains was not a target,” Leone said.
Parnon has also subpoenaed Zagaria and von Berg, and Plains
tried to quash the subpoena, court records show. The company
also asked Parnon to provide declarations saying Zagaria and von
Berg hadn’t participated in any manipulation with the
defendants, according to an Oct. 11 e-mail from Elizabeth
Bradshaw, an attorney at Winston & Strawn LLP representing
Parnon.
Plains Strategies
“Plains’s documents, even though several years old,
provide a road map for Plains’s business strategies,” the
company said in its Nov. 13 request that the U.S. Court of
Appeals stay Pauley’s order. “They demonstrate how Plains makes
pricing decisions, its profit margins, and its hedging and risk-management strategies.”
Shell said the records the company turned over to the CFTC
included details of its “refining operations, pipeline
capacity, storage capacity and trading of crude oil,” court
records show
Morgan Stanley gave the CFTC “detailed and highly
confidential records pertaining to its commodity trading
business,” according to a June court filing. The records, if
released, “would potentially reveal strategies employed by
Morgan Stanley traders.”
Vitol gave 1.4 million pages to the CFTC between 2008 and
2010 pursuant to requests from the agency and “in response to
investigative subpoenas.”
“We’ve argued to the court that the deliverable supply and
how the crude oil markets work and the communication among those
trading in the market, are all pertinent to the case,” Lovell
said.
U.S. oil stockpiles expanded last week by 375,000 barrels
to 388.5 million, the Energy Information Administration said
today. Supplies at Cushing climbed to 39.9 million.
The case is In Re: Crude Oil Commodity Futures Litigation,
11-cv-03600. The CFTC case is U.S. Commodity Futures Trading
Commission v. Parnon Energy Inc., 11-cv-3543, U.S. District
Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan). The appeal is
U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. Parnon Energy Inc.,
13-04206, Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (Manhattan).
The Waterfront Commission of New York/New Jersey posted on their web-site the official report submitted to the Governors of New Jersey and New York. This report was issued in March 2012, but references public hearings conducted in 2010. Not sure what took them so long to issue the report. The wheels of government turn slowly.
I remember after the economic collapse, many shipping companies thought it was the right time
to invest. Cheap ships, cheap money. Just wait it out, things will improve.
It's not that easy. Prime example of the long, long, business cycles of the shipping business.
Korean Shipping Lines Face Cash Crunch After Expansion
By Kyunghee Park -
Nov 14, 2013 4:40 AM ET
South Korea’s three biggest shipping
companies face a cash crunch as 3 trillion won ($2.8 billion) of
bonds are due for repayment in the next two years amid mounting
losses from a global slump in rates to carry cargo. Hanjin Shipping Co. (117930), Hyundai Merchant Marine Co. (011200) and STX
Pan Ocean Co. (028670) are all forecast to post losses in 2013 for a
third consecutive year, further denting the combined 1.3
trillion won of cash and near cash items they had as of the end
of September. The companies need to repay 1.4 trillion won of
bonds next year and 1.6 trillion won the year after.
A debt-fueled expansion after the 2008 Lehman Brothers
Holdings Inc. bankruptcy filing pushed the carriers into losses
so deep they may need financial assistance to repay loans taken
to buy new vessels, said Kim Ik Sang, a credit analyst at HI
Investment & Securities Co. As China’s economy cools and weak
consumer spending persists in the U.S. and Europe, the companies
are unlikely to turn around to improve their ability to repay
loans, said Um Kyung A, an analyst at Shinyoung Securities Co.
“It’s pretty much out of their control,” said Seoul-based
Um. “Cash is depleting quite fast while the shipping industry
isn’t showing any signs of a recovery. I don’t think we can
completely forgo the possibility of things turning worse next
year.”
Hanjin, South Korea’s largest shipping company, and Hyundai
Merchant are expected to post losses next year as well,
according to analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. STX, the
largest commodity-mover and under court receivership since June,
may post its first profit in four years in 2014.
Wider Losses
The three shipping lines widened their losses in the third
quarter from a year earlier because of an increase in interest
payments while demand to move cargo remained weak, according to
separate statements filed by the companies today.
Shares of Hanjin Shipping dropped 1.3 percent to close at
6,990 won in Seoul. STX Pan Ocean fell 3.9 percent to 1,115 won.
Hyundai Merchant advanced 2.3 percent after it teamed up with
Posco and Korea Railroad Corp. to develop a rail project linking
Khasan on Russian border and North Korean port of Rajin.
Hanjin Shipping’s Chief Executive Officer Kim Young Min
resigned Nov. 11 to take responsibility for the company’s losses
and a delay in receiving financing from creditors. The company
has 1.1 trillion won of bonds due in the next two years,
compared with cash and near-cash items of 382 billion won at the
end of September.
Perpetual Bonds
Hanjin has been selling assets and has sufficient cash for
payments, said Kim Young Tae, a spokesman at the shipping
company. The carrier will continue to look at financing options,
including a perpetual bond sale, he said.
Hyundai Merchant has 1 trillion won to pay in the same two
years, compared with 678 billion won in cash. STX owes 900
billion won with a cash pile of 237 billion won in that period,
according to data compiled by Bloomberg. STX is in talks with
its main creditors on maturing debt, according to an e-mailed
response to Bloomberg News.
Hyundai Merchant has secured funds to meet payments until
the first half of next year, said Lee Jun Ki, a spokesman.
Hyundai will look at “various options,” if the shipping
industry doesn’t improve, he said.
“The amount coming due may not seem big, but it’s a
problem if you have a similar size of loan maturing for three
straight years and you are not making enough money,” said HI
Investment’s Kim. “Of all the industries, shipping is having
the biggest problems because of the liquidity issues they
face.”
Temporary Plan
The government holds one of the keys to easing the debt
crisis for companies through its Korea Development Bank.
To help troubled shippers and other companies pay down the
bonds, the government in July put forward a temporary plan in
which KDB will help raise 80 percent of funds needed for
repayment. The companies need to bring the rest. That enabled
Hyundai Merchant refinance 280 billion won of maturing bonds
last month.
“We prepared corporate bond market stabilization steps in
July preemptively,” Shin Je Yoon, chairman of South Korea’s
regulator Financial Services Commission, said Oct. 24. “I don’t
have immediate concerns about the debt market, but we can review
easing the July measure to provide help to a broader range of
companies if needed.”
KDB’s Role
KDB declined to comment, it said in an e-mail response.
The state-owned bank has played a key role in helping
distressed companies restructure in the past. It’s taking the
lead role in rescheduling debt for STX Offshore (067250) & Shipbuilding
Co. and one of its funds became the biggest shareholder of
Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co. (047040) by swapping debt for
equity.
“KDB is very important,” HI Investment’s Kim said. “If
not for them, the circumstances in the shipping industry could
be far worse than what they are now.”
Hanjin, which has reported a loss in each of the past 10
quarters, got a loan from affiliate Korean Air Lines Co. (003490) in
October while Hyundai Merchant sold shares this month.
Hanjin is considering selling stakes in port terminals, it
said in a regulatory filing Nov. 12.
A glut of vessels has contributed to the slump in the
Baltic Dry Index. (BDIY) The most popular global measure of commodity-shipping rates plunged 90 percent from its peak to a record low
of 647 in February last year. The gauge has since more than
doubled.
Spot rates to haul container cargo from Asia to Europe, the
world’s busiest trading lane, have dropped 12 percent from this
year’s high, according to the Shanghai Shipping Exchange.
Two Victims
The global downturn has already claimed two victims in
Japan. Last year, Sanko Steamship Co., a Japanese operator of
185 ships, went into bankruptcy protection after failing to
reach agreement with creditors on an out-of-court turnaround.
Daiichi Chuo Kisen Kaisha, based in Tokyo, received a
bailout from its lead shareholder Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd.
earlier this year.
Unlike Denmark’s A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S, operator of the
world’s largest sea box carrier, and Hong Kong-based Orient
Overseas (316) (International) Ltd., South Korean shipping lines have
been burdened by higher financing costs since the 1997-1998
Asian financial crisis, according to Shinyoung’s Um.
The Korean shipping lines had the worst timing for
investment,” Um said. “While their competitors were able to
order ships when prices were low, Korean companies ended up
buying at a high.”
While the global container cargo market and commodity
shipping rates have improved, South Korean shipping companies
will still be at a disadvantage, said Kang Seong Jin, an analyst
at Tongyang Securities Inc. in Seoul.
“Koreans are losing competitiveness,” he said. “While
the bigger players have been investing to grow their economy of
scale, Koreans have been busy trying to repay debt.”
To contact the reporter on this story:
Kyunghee Park in Singapore at
kpark3@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Anand Krishnamoorthy at
anandk@bloomberg.net
Hanjin Shipping Co. (117930)’s Chief
Executive Officer Kim Young Min resigned, taking responsibility
for two successive years of losses at South Korea’s largest
shipper and a delay in getting financial support from creditors.
Kim, 58, will stay until a replacement is found, the Seoul-based company said in an e-mailed statement today. Kim was
appointed as CEO in January 2009 after 20 years with Citigroup
Inc. Hanjin posted a loss in each of the past 10 quarters.
Shares of the container-to-commodity shipper, which last
month received a loan from its group affiliate Korean Air Lines
Co. to ease a “temporary” liquidity shortage, fell in Seoul
trading. Laden with debt, Hanjin is among liners trying to
overcome a global overcapacity and a slump in shipping rates,
factors that pushed rival STX Pan Ocean Co. to file for a court
receivership in June.
“There’s no good news for Hanjin right now,” said Yun Hee
Do, an analyst at Korea Investment & Securities Co. in Seoul.
“The company hasn’t been able to make money recently and its
interest payment has been increasing. There’s quite a sizable
amount of debt coming due next year for Hanjin.”
Korean Air said last month it will provide 150 billion won
($142 million) to Hanjin to help ease the company’s liquidity
shortage. The shipping line has 736.4 billion won of debt and
loans maturing next year, compared with 58 billion won in 2013,
according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Its cash and cash
equivalent was 506.6 billion won at the end of June.
Korean Air, the nation’s biggest airline, is the largest
shareholder of Hanjin’s parent Hanjin Shipping Holdings Co. They
are both part of Hanjin Group.
Hanjin fell as much as 1.4 percent to 7,000 won before
trading at 7,060 won as of 11:32 in Seoul. The stock was up by
much as 3 percent earlier today. Hanjin has slumped 41 percent
this year, compared with a 0.6 percent decline in the benchmark
Kospi index.
Hanjin Shipping narrowed losses to 121.8 billion won in the
first half, from 346.6 billion won loss a year earlier.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Kyunghee Park in Singapore at
kpark3@bloomberg.net
It's not good news for most shipping companies these days. Will still be a tough few years, and still waiting to see if more consolidation in the industry.
The "boom" has gone "bust" in Brasil. This from Reuters.
By Sabrina Lorenzi
Nov 8 (Reuters) - Brazilian shipbuilder OSX
Brasil SA said on Friday it will file for bankruptcy
protection, another step in the decline of former billionaire
Eike Batista's empire.
The company said in a securities filing its shareholders
approved the bankruptcy filing, which is expected to take place
next week in a Rio de Janeiro court. The company also announced
the ouster of Chief Executive Marcelo Gomes.
OSX has 5.34 billion reais ($2.29 billion) in debt and could
seek to restructure part or all of that, becoming the second
company of Batista's to file for bankruptcy. Batista's oil
producer company, OGX Petróleo e Gas Participações SA
, sought protection from creditors on Oct. 30.
The OGX petition, citing 11.2 billion reais in debt, was the
largest corporate bankruptcy filing in Latin America.
The OSX bankruptcy decision follows more than a year during
which Batista's EBX Group - a sprawling empire of energy,
minerals and logistics companies, including OGX and OSX -
collapsed under a mountain of debt after missing production
targets.
EBX was once valued at more than $60 billion, and Batista
was a swaggering symbol of Brazil's rise as an emerging-market
powerhouse over the past decade.
Yet, as problems mounted, they fulfilled predictions made by
skeptics of Batista's breakneck expansion in recent years.
Critics warned that interdependence between EBX companies would
make them vulnerable to each other's problems, the opposite of
Batista's contention that the links would generate business
helping the companies flourish.
Once OGX filed for court protection, an OSX filing became
more likely and thus did not come as a surprise. The shipbuilder
depends on its sister company, to which it leases oil production
vessels, for all its revenue.
OSX depends on OGX, to which it leases oil production ships,
for all its revenue. OSX is 10 percent owned by South Korea's
Hyundai Heavy Industry.
Parent company OSX and two subsidiaries OSX Construção Naval
S.A. and OSX Serviços Operacionais Ltda. will jointly file for
protection from creditors, the filing said.
The company did not mention a third unit, OSX Leasing, which
owns three platforms that are leased for oil exploration
purposes. OSX's $500 million in secured dollar-denominated bonds
have rallied in recent days on speculation that OSX Brasil would
keep OSX Leasing off the filing so that the company can freely
decide what to do with the leasing company's assets.
If the court approves the bankruptcy request OSX plans to
file, the company will have 60 days to present a restructuring
plan. OSX creditors will then have 30 days to endorse or reject
the plan, though legal experts warn the proceedings could drag
on for much longer than that.
Brazilian Development Bank BNDES said in a statement that it
granted OSX a $228 million bridge loan, but added that the loan
is backed by bank guarantees and presents no risk to the BNDES.
UNFINISHED SHIPYARD
OSX, whose assets include an unfinished shipyard on the
northern coast of Rio de Janeiro state, is also one of OGX's
biggest creditors. OGX owes OSX at least 2.45 billion reais,
according to documents filed with the bankruptcy court.
Before the OGX and OSX filings, Batista had already agreed
to sell stakes and assets of the other four publicly traded
companies in the ailing EBX conglomerate.
Like other Batista companies, OSX's troubles stem from the
failure of OGX to meet any of its ambitious oil production
targets. After starting output at its first field in early 2012,
OGX repeatedly missed goals despite reassuring investors that
copious amounts of oil would soon flow.
Having once said OGX would produce 1.4 million barrels of
oil and natural gas equivalent a day by 2018, or more than half
Brazil's current output, the company never produced more than 1
percent of that.
According to Batista's plan, the oil was supposed to have
provided tens of billions of dollars to build several dozen oil
platforms and other vessels at the OSX shipyard. The facility
was modeled on shipyards operated by Hyundai Heavy Industry
and was designed to be the largest shipyard in the
Southern Hemisphere.
Bankruptcy protection could help OSX salvage its shipyard
unit, part of which is almost ready to begin operations at the
port of Açu complex on the Rio de Janeiro coast.
The port's operator LLX Logística SA, another
company founded by Batista, has agreed to renegotiate its
contracts with OSX for the use of the port, reducing OSX's
investment obligations, Friday's filing said.
The Waterfront Commission is finally doing it's job. Here's another one they are throwing out.
WCNYH Pier Superintendent’s License Revoked for Refusal to Take Commission Ordered Drug Tests
November 5, 2013
Red Hook Container Terminal Probationary
Pier Superintendent Thomas Griffith’s license has been revoked for
refusing to take Commission ordered urine and hair tests for drug use.
At the time he was ordered to take the tests, Griffith was advised that
failure to appear for the tests would be considered a positive result
and could result in the revocation of his license.
Griffith had previously been denied a Pier
Superintendent’s license in 2008 after it was found that he lacked the
required good character and integrity because of prior drug use and
false testimony about his drug use. On application of Red Hook Container
Terminal dated April 27, 2012, Griffith was issued a temporary,
probationary license. Before permanent licensure, Griffith was ordered
by the Commission to be tested for illegal drug usage. Griffith failed
to appear for the tests.
After a hearing on the charges, an
Administrative Law Judge found that Griffith failed to provide material
evidence as required by the Commission (the drug tests) and lacked the
requisite good character and integrity required of a Pier Superintendent
citing his “historical penchant for fabrication by evasion” regarding
his drug use. The Administrative Law Judge recommended that Griffith’s
temporary license be revoked and his application for a permanent license
be denied. The Commission concurred with the Administrative Law Judge’s
findings and revoked his temporary license and denied his application
for a permanent license.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey says the Waterfront Commission is not
delaying the hiring of new employees.
This from their web-site
STATEMENT BY PORT AUTHORITY ON THIS WEEK'S MEETING ON HIRING ISSUES IN THE PORT OF NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY
Date: Nov 07, 2013 Press Release Number: 112-2013
"As the agency that oversees the largest port complex
on the East Coast, our goal is simple: To continue to build on the
280,000 jobs and billions of dollars in economic activity that the Port
of New York and New Jersey provides to the region. This week, we had a
productive meeting with the Waterfront Commission and the New York
Shipping Association over hiring at the port at a time when there is a
real need for additional employees on the docks. All parties made a
great deal of progress, which when effected, will result in the hiring
of hundreds of ILA members in the short term. Though work needs to be
done to finalize the agreement, we are optimistic as we continue to work
with both parties towards a settlement. All parties agree that the
Waterfront Commission was and is not delaying hiring, and applicants are
actively being referred and processed. All stakeholders continue to
work in a cooperative fashion to put people to work as quickly
possible."
CONTACT: Port Authority of New York and New Jersey 212-435-7777
COSCO is the first (well, in recent history) shipping company established in China. They were established in 1961. Click here for their web-site and history.
Before all the changes in China, I doubt if anyone knew if Cosco made a profit or a loss. Their costs were so cheap, and they existed for the country to obtain foreign money, and as a way to get products to and from their country.
My how times have changed. Even though China is still a "communist" country, the almighty profit and loss has certainly come into being.
The
chairman of Cosco Group expressed confidence on Wednesday that the
company would achieve its financial goals for 2013, signaling the
company is aiming to achieve a full-year profit and avoid delisting from
the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
“We are confident that we will
achieve the goal we planned at the beginning of the year,” Ma Zehua told
the JOC at the opening of the annual Cosco-hosted World Shipping
(China) Summit in Ningbo.
As Cosco had reported losses in 2011 and
2012 due to weakness in shipping markets, a full year-loss would have
resulted in automatic delisting from the Shanghai exchange. That would
have been a huge comedown for a prominent state-owned enterprise and one
that has helped spearhead China’s entry into foreign markets since its
founding in 1961.
China Cosco Holdings has sold several assets
this year to its state-run parent China Ocean Shipping (Group) Co., or
Cosco Group, in a bid to avoid full-year losses. China Cosco Holdings,
the container line’s parent company, cut its first half loss to $162
million from $796 million in the first half of 2012 through asset sales.
In
March, it sold its logistics business to Cosco Group for $1.1 billion.
In May, the company's listed port operating unit, Cosco Pacific Ltd.,
sold its stake in a container manufacturer to Cosco Group for $1.22
billion. In August, it sold holdings in two office properties, one in
Shanghai and another in Qingdao, to the parent company for US$609
million. It also sold stakes in Cosco Plaza in Shanghai and Sunshine
Plaza in Qingdao.
Ma took over the chairman role at Cosco Group in July following the retirement of Capt. Wei Jiafu.
The World Shipping (China) Summit is officially co-organized by Cosco, Drewry, JOC Group and Maritime China magazine.
