Jimmy Troderman of the EIA reports that China’s largest volumetric increase in crude oil imports in 2023 was from Russia. He writes: China, the world’s largest importer of crude oil, imported 11.3 million barrels per day (b/d) of crude oil in 2023, 10% more than in 2022, according to China customs data. Refiners in China imported record volumes of crude oil in 2023 to supply the country’s increasing refining capacity in order to support the country’s transportation fuel needs and produce feedstocks for its growing petrochemical industry. Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq were … [Read more...]
Trucking Companies’ Hopes for Earnings Rebound Fade
Paul Berger of The Wall Street Journal tells his readers that industry analysts say many trucking companies are barely clinging on as freight rates are in retreat, thanks in part to earnings they tucked away during the pandemic. He writes: A push by retailers and manufacturers to cut shipping costs is sending trucking industry hopes of an earnings rebound into a skid. Freight rates have been retreating for much of the year in the trucking sector’s spot market. Analysts and industry executives say longer-term contract prices are also declining as shipping customers focus on keeping … [Read more...]
Home Energy Storage Boom in U.S.
Ed Cooks of WoodMac.com tells his readers that changes to net metering rules in California have created new incentives to add batteries to solar systems. He writes: Alexis de Tocqueville, the French diplomat and famous observer of America, noted in 1840 that in democratic countries such as the US, a citizen’s independence “fills him with self-reliance and pride amongst his equals”. That same spirit might have been expected to help make the US a global leader in residential solar power, with homeowners wanting to reduce their reliance on the grid. In fact, however, the US has lagged far … [Read more...]
FBI Probes Baltimore Bridge Collapse
Sadie Gurman, Costas Paris, and Scott Calvert of The Wall Street Journal tell their readers of an FBI probe into whether the crew aboard the containership Dali failed to report any problems with the vessel before it left port. They report: The FBI has opened a criminal investigation into the circumstances leading up to last month’s deadly collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, a law-enforcement official said on Monday. The probe is examining issues including whether the crew aboard the containership Dali failed to report any problems with the vessel before it left port, the … [Read more...]
China’s Plan for Strategic Coal Reserve
Reuters reports that China's state planner has finalized a rule to set up a coal production reserve system. They write: China's state planner on Friday finalised a rule to set up a domestic coal production reserve system by 2027, aimed at stabilising thermal coal prices and supplies to power plants. The rule, which was first issued in draft form by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) in December, called for 300 million metric tons of "dispatchable" annual coal production by 2030, equivalent to about 6% of last year's output. China set a goal in 2021 to have coal … [Read more...]
U.S. Wants to Cripple Russia’s Vast Arctic LNG Project
Anna Hirtenstein and Georgi Kantchev of The Wall Street Journal report that Washington wants to ensure Putin’s flagship liquefied-natural-gas project is ‘dead in the water.’ They Write: Supercooled gas has quickly become one of the world’s most important energy sources—and a flashpoint between Russia and the U.S. Nowhere is that contest more apparent than in Russia’s Arctic north. An enormous new coastal facility is being built there to produce liquefied natural gas, a key project for Russian President Vladimir Putin. The U.S. is using a barrage of sanctions to cripple the initiative, … [Read more...]
Metals Swing Sharply on Russian Sanctions
Bloomberg reports that metals whipsawed as sanctions on new Russian supplies rattled the LME. They write: Metals swung sharply, with aluminum surging by a record before later erasing most of its gains, as traders digest US and UK sanctions that banned delivery of new Russian supplies onto the London Metal Exchange. The curbs on aluminum, nickel and copper announced late Friday don’t prevent Russia from selling its metals to buyers outside the US or UK, and don’t restrict the vast majority of the global trade in metals — which takes place directly between miners, traders and manufacturers … [Read more...]
America’s Pandemic-Driven Warehouse Boom is Losing Steam
Liz Young of The Wall Street Journal tells her readers that average leasing rates across the U.S. have flattened out, with deals to be had. She writes: Taylor Wood says bargaining with warehouse owners for storage space is far different than during the pandemic, when demand for industrial space was red hot. “I’ve never seen a market like that, where we were basically scratching and clawing for every building,” said Wood, a broker at real estate services firm Savills. “There were five offers on every building.” Now, Wood sees signs rents are flattening nationwide and even ticking … [Read more...]
Inflation Hotter than Expected in March
Sam Goldfarb and Nick Timiraos of The Wall Street Journal report that consumer prices rose 3.5% in March, and underlying price pressures remained strong. They write: Stubborn inflation pressures persisted in March, derailing the case for the Federal Reserve to begin reducing interest rates in June and raising questions over whether it can deliver cuts this year without signs of an economic slowdown. The consumer-price index, a measure of goods and services prices across the economy, rose 3.5% in March from a year earlier, the Labor Department said Wednesday. That was a touch higher than … [Read more...]
The Buck Stops Here – Dollar Store Closings
Warren Shoulberg of The Robin Report reports that despite inflation, the dwindling middle class is not necessarily trading down to dollar stores the way they used to. He writes: Let’s play a little Dialing for Dollars; the big picture is about Dollar Tree closing. Today’s question is: Why did Dollar Tree decide to close 1,000 of its Family Dollar and Dollar Tree locations? It may be a trick question and the answer is rather complicated. See if you can get the right one: It is the fallout from a deal almost ten years ago that Dollar Tree thought it won…but turned out to have lost … [Read more...]
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