Commodities, Business & Shipping

A court case involving Landstar, a mysterious driver named James and the theft of valuable cargo is being viewed as a significant victory for the brokerage industry.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a lower court ruling that Jacksonville, Florida-based Landstar was not negligent in the August 2020 theft of a truckload of expensive freight.

The players in the drama are Landstar Ranger, one of the brokerage company’s operating units; Tessco Technologies, a manufacturer of wireless communications technology that hired Landstar to move a truckload of its products from Colorado to Maryland; L&P Transportation, the carrier that Landstar booked to move the freight; somebody named “James” who snookered Landstar into thinking he was representing L&P but instead picked up the cargo and was never seen again; and Aspen American Insurance, which insured Tessco, paid it for its losses and then sued Landstar.

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Dan Chidester didn’t like his union job at the bread factory. It was 1981 and he wanted something with more adventure, more flexibility. So he bought a truck.

This was a poorly timed choice. When Chidester was growing up in the 1950s and 1960s, trucking was one of the best-paid jobs a guy without a college degree could get. But by the time he started trucking, the entire industry was changing in response to a law called the Motor Carrier Act of 1980. This law deregulated trucking, wresting control of freight rates from the federal government and allowing the free market to decide how much it would cost to move shoes, concrete, furniture and everything else around the United States via truck.

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20/04/2023

The downturn on the transpacific, compared with the pandemic-driven boom of the past two years, is palpable as ocean carriers start to post their Q1 results – but there are suggestions a rebound is imminent.

April 25 (Reuters) - Three large US banks face shareholder calls on Tuesday to wind down fossil fuel financing, a balancing act for them and their top investors who are also under political pressure from the other side to maintain support of the oil and gas industries.

The resolutions were filed by climate-minded investor activists at Bank of America (BAC.N), Citigroup (C.N) and Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N). All three banks say the nonbinding measures calling for policies to phase out lending and underwriting for new fossil fuel exploration and development are not necessary given their other commitments to reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.

An opinion piece on the US Maritime Industry.

US Maritime Crisis: Uncovering The Ghost Admiral Steering The US Government’s Most Secretive Agency​

by Captain John Konrad (OpEd) How can you help CATO dismantle the Jones Act and undermine American shipping? How can you subvert crucial US Navy shipbuilding subsidies? How can you obstruct $1.1 trillion of infrastructure bill funding from supporting ports and marine highways? How can you perpetuate the influx of Chinese goods arriving at US ports on Chinese vessels? Simply refuse to answer the phone.

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Corn and soybean planting is now underway in every state except North Dakota and South Dakota. USDA's weekly Crop Progress Report shows while farmers in Missouri and Tennessee are planting at a rapid pace, those in the upper Midwest are already behind.

USDA says, as of Sunday, April 23, 14% of the nation's corn crop is now in the ground—double the amount of corn planted a year ago. At 14% planted, corn planting is 3 percentage points ahead of average, and a 6-point bump in a week.

Other highlights from this week's corn planting report compared to average include:

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An impact wrench rattles another bolt home as Rick Rottinghaus reaches for the next part in this year’s planter upgrades. Time is running out before wheels need to be turning on his family’s Waterloo, Iowa, farm.

“One of my brothers asked the other day, ‘Can’t we get a new piece of equipment without you getting the torch and the welder out?’” he laughs.

The tinkering trait is one Rottinghaus comes by honestly.

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Beware the man who eats soybeans and shi** gold. In the pantheon of agriculture’s notorious con artists, one hustler reigns supreme—Anthony “Tino” De Angelis, the Salad Oil King.

With soybeans as his wheelhorse, De Angelis stole over $1 billion at today’s currency rates, shook Wall Street to its core, dragged American Express to the brink, humiliated big banking, embarrased USDA, ushered in the rise of Warren Buffet, and flaunted a dizzying chain of Ponzi pyramids.

For almost two decades, De Angelis’ hand touched more U.S. soybeans than anyone on the planet, as he pulled the levers on an incredible succession of agriculture crimes involving ghost tanks, rancid product, fake receipts, market manipulation, and a reptilian ability to shed blame.

Read the rest here:

What's Going on With Containers? Are Freight and/or Charter Rates Falling, Rising or Stable?​

Apr 26, 2023

15:24

HSBC: Freight Rates Expected to Rise as Contract Season Ends and Labor Issues Persist https://gcaptain.com/hsbc-freight-rat...
Container shipping warning: Green shoots are ‘transitory illusion’ https://www.freightwaves.com/news/con...

WASHINGTON, April 28 (Reuters) - U.S. regulators are poised to allow summer sales of gasoline with a higher blend of ethanol, sources told Reuters, adding that an emergency waiver would be issued later on Friday.

Trucking bloodbath snares fleets large and small​

Number of interstate trucking fleets dipped by nearly 9,000 in first 3 months of 2023​

Rachel Premack
Friday, April 28, 2023

America’s $875 billion trucking industry is struggling.

The number of authorized interstate trucking fleets in the U.S. declined by nearly 9,000 in the first quarter of 2023, according to federal data analyzed by Motive, a fleet management technology company. Several midsized fleets have already shuttered this year, including Florida’s Flagship Transport and North Carolina’s FreightWorks Transport. And major freight brokerages have laid off 1,000 employees in 2023 alone.

Per FreightWaves’ Outbound Tender Rejection Index, trucking fleets are rejecting about 2.8% of load requests. That makes “early 2023 the softest sustained truckload market since the tender data history began in early 2018,” as FreightWaves’ Zach Strickland wrote earlier this month.

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Pork ending stocks grew 10% year-over-year: Weekly Livestock Market Update for 4/28/23​

Apr 28, 2023

12:57

Brownfield Anchor/Reporter Meghan Grebner and University of Missouri Market Analyst Scott Brown give a weekly recap of the markets and discuss how it can impact farmers’ bottom lines.
----- -

This week in the markets

– Live fed cattle prices were unchanged on the week, while feeder cattle prices were mostly steady to $2 this week. June live cattle were up $1.05 on the week. May feeder cattle were down $1.10 on the week. Choice box beef was up $2.73 this week, $46 above year-ago levels. Cash hogs were up $0.35 this week. June lean hog futures were up $5.50 on the week. Pork cutout values were up $0.65 this week.

- Weekly Slaughter Numbers – At the end of the week, cattle slaughter was 620,000 head, down 2,000 on the week and down 27,000 for the year. Hog slaughter was 2.387 million head, that’s down 67,000 from the previous week but up 20,000 on the year. Year-to-date cattle slaughter is down 3.2% while hog slaughter is up 1.6%

- Cold Storage – Beef ending stocks for March 2023 stood at 481 million pounds, down 10.3% from a year ago. Pork ending stocks for March 2023 were 534 million pounds, up 9.9% from a year ago. Belly stocks were 35.4% above year-ago levels.

- Restaurant Performance Index – The March Restaurant Performance Index fell 1% on lower same-store sales and lower customer traffic. The expectations portion of the index also fell in March.

- Next week’s reports – Monthly Trade Data and Jobs Report

Did THEY JUST Confess To Silver Price Manipulation?​

Apr 29, 2023

20:42

_________________________________________________

World Silver Survey 2023


***Note: You can find more on this here:


and here:

Tanker Pablo Explodes in the South China Sea | Rescue Efforts Underway | Ship-To-Ship Transfer?​

May 1, 2023

15:38

In this episode, Sal Mercogliano - maritime historian at Campbell University (@campbelledu) and former merchant mariner - discusses how the Gabon-flagged, Venezuela-registered, unknown-classification society tanker exploded off the coast of Malaysia in the South China Sea on May 1, 2023.

00:00 Introduction & Latest News
03:20 Background Information on Tanker Pablo
12:37 Analysis


Tanker on Fire Off Singapore; Three Missing https://gcaptain.com/pablo-tanker-fir...
Charlie Brown - Twitter https://twitter.com/supbrow
Marine Traffic - Pablo https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/...
Equasis https://www.equasis.org/EquasisWeb/re...
Lloyd's List Podcast https://lloydslist.maritimeintelligen...

Maritime security: 2022 year in review​

Port news
Published: 26 April 2023

Piracy and armed robbery at sea​

According to the ICC International Maritime Bureau's (IMB) annual piracy report (2022), global piracy has hit a 30-year low and is declining for the second year in a row.

The ICC IMB's annual report shows a 13% drop in overall attacks in 2022 compared to 2021, where the decline has been attributed primarily to the decrease in activity in the Gulf of Guinea. The report recorded a total of 115 incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships in 2022 – compared to 132 in 2021 – with half of them occurring in Southeast Asian waters, particularly in the Singapore Straits, where incidents continue to rise and have reached a seven-year high in 2022.

A staggering 95% of the reported incidents involved successful boarding of the vessels by perpetrators. In most cases, vessels were either anchored or steamed when boarded, with all incidents having occurred during hours of darkness.

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To date, there has been no single, global dry bulk event where miners, traders, commodity giants, shipowners, operators, managers and tech providers get together under one roof to thrash out deals and make important collaboration agreements. This is set to change with the creation of Geneva Dry, a high-level summit for the entire dry bulk supply chain.

Geneva Dry has been launched today, setting out to become the global annual dry bulk gathering. Set to run from May 2 to 3 next year at the five-star Hotel President Wilson on the banks of Lake Geneva, the business event will welcome delegates and speakers from across the world to take part in a unique gathering for the dry bulk sector, providing a suitable environment for charterers, shipowners and suppliers to meet and hatch out deals with plenty of significant announcements expected to arise from the two-day gathering.

The ro-ro market is continuing to boom, with demand remaining high and vessel space at a premium boosting rates, while port operators in Europe are refusing to take more vehicles as storage reaches capacity.

According to a Loadstar source, storage is overwhelmed by the scale of imports at the port of Antwerp-Bruges.

EPA opens E15 sales for summer: Weekly Commodity Market Update for 5/2/23​

May 2, 2023

15:41

Market recap (changes on week):
- July corn down $.23 at $5.84
- December 2023 corn down $.21 at $5.25
- July soybeans down $.09 at $14.27
- November soybeans up $.04 at $12.75
- July soybean oil up $.01 at $51.81
- July soybean meal down $3.80 at $433.60/short ton
- July wheat down $.37 at $6.18
- June WTI Crude Oil down $2.49 at $75.61/barrel

Weekly highlights:
- US gasoline demand surged for the most recent week,representing maybe some optimism in the general economy. US gasoline demand was up 12% week over week. With strong demand- US stocks of crude oil, gasoline, distillate fuel, and ethanol were pulled down.

- US ethanol, however, fell a little on the week at 284 million gallons down from 301 million gallons the week prior.

- Export sales for the 2022/23 marketing year were neutral on the week- everything was within expectations and pretty much in line with the week before. Export for 2023/24 were pretty much nonexistent though with only wheat seeing some new crop sales.

- There is a general risk off sentiment in the commodity markets ahead of any reactions to moves by the Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee this coming week- open interest positions were down nearly across the board: wheats (flat), corn (-7.2%), soybeans (-12.4%), soybean oil (-5.2%), Soybean meal (-4.4%), Cotton (+0.5%) and rough rice (-5.7%).

- Managed money holdings of futures and options positions were also largely down across the board: corn (-64,731) and creating a rare net short in the complex, soybeans (-47,574), soybean oil (-3,812), and soybean meal (-19,309). Chicago wheats decreased their net short adding 15,612 net contracts.

- Weekly grain export inspections were steady to bullish on the week (after a couple bearish weeks). Corn export inspections exceeded all expectations and were a marketing year high, while soybeans, wheat, and grain sorghum inspections were all within range.

- Soybeans crushed for crude oil in March were 198 million bushels- up from both February of this year by 22 million bushels and March of 2022 by 5 million bushels.

- Corn consumed for fuel alcohol in March was 10% higher than February but 3% below March 2022 matching the lower ethanol production numbers.

- USDA’s crop progress report showed 26% of the nation’s corn planted- up 12% from last week and right at the 5-year average for this time of the year. Corn planting is just about done in Missouri (80%) compared to Dakota’s where planting hasn’t started.

- 19% of the soybean crop planted- up 10% on the week and above average of 11% for this time of year.

- Conditions for winter wheats increased in the Pacific northwest while largely falling across the plains. The full composite conditions index was stable but with the same regional changes.

Linky stuff:

PUBLISHED MAY 3, 2023 11:00 AM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

Iranian forces seized a second crude oil tanker in a week in the area around the Strait of Hormuz according to a report released by the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command U.S. 5th Fleet. Iranian news agency quickly confirmed today's action saying the vessel was being “impounded” due to an unspecified legal claim.

From the link:

Russia — one of the world’s top energy providers — is mired in war. The OPEC cartel is cutting production. And yet, oil prices continue to tumble, weighed by global recession fears and concerns on Chinese demand.

For ocean shipping, this translates into cheaper marine fuel costs, a positive for operating margins, and much narrower fuel spreads, a negative for owners of vessels with exhaust gas scrubbers.

For listed tanker owners, the drop in oil prices is coinciding with faltering sentiment and falling share prices at the very time vessel supply fundamentals point to a sustainable rate rebound.

Deutsche Bank shipping analyst Chris Robertson said late Tuesday, “We believe the market will more heavily discount energy exposed companies, including tanker owners, based on current downside demand risks and negative macroeconomic sentiment. Oil prices have been on the decline over the past few weeks, falling further this week on weak manufacturing data out of China.”

(Bloomberg) — Iran seized a second oil tanker in less than a week, ratcheting up tensions for shipping in one of the world’s most vital trade corridors.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy intercepted the Panama-flagged oil tanker Niovi at around 6:20 a.m. local time Wednesday as it was transiting the Strait of Hormuz, according to a statement from the US Navy.

The firm writes that BWET is the world’s first ETF designed to provide long exposure to the crude oil tanker shipping market through a portfolio of near-dated futures contracts on indices that measure the cost of shipping crude oil.

Geopolitical tensions have impacted oil flows and shifted traditional routes, the firm says, adding increasing demand and evolving environmental regulations will continue to impact the cost of transporting crude oil worldwide, creating a unique investment opportunity for the years to come. The firm says that BWET provides investors with direct exposure to crude oil freight futures with the simplicity of trading an ETF.

Weekend Market Report 5/5

March beef exports decline, pork makes huge jump: Weekly Livestock Market Update for 5/5/23​

May 5, 2023

14:25

Brownfield Anchor/Reporter Meghan Grebner and University of Missouri Market Analyst Scott Brown give a weekly recap of the markets and discuss how it can impact farmers’ bottom lines. ----- -

-This week in the markets – Live-fed cattle prices were down $4.60 on the week, while feeder cattle prices were mostly steady this week. June live cattle were down $3.50 on the week. August feeder cattle were down nearly $9.00 on the week. Choice box beef was up $0.22 this week, $51 above year-ago levels. Cash hogs were up $1.80 this week. June lean hog futures were down $8.15 on the week. Pork cutout values were up $1.90 this week.

- Weekly Slaughter Numbers – At the end of the week, cattle slaughter was 623,000 head, down 1,000 on the week and down 38,000 for the year. Hog slaughter was 2.447 million head, that’s up 60,000 from the previous week and up 42,000 on the year. Year-to-date cattle slaughter is down 3.3%, while hog slaughter is up 1.6%

- Monthly Trade Data – March 2023 beef exports totaled 286 million pounds, down 18 million pounds from one year ago. Pork exports for March 2023 totaled 608 million pounds, 64 million pounds above one year ago. All major destinations showed higher pork trade in March relative to last year.

- Jobs Report – The jobs report showed 253,000 jobs were added in April, exceeding pre-report estimates of 180,000 jobs. The unemployment rate was 3.4% and average hourly wages stood 4.4% above a year ago.

- Next week’s reports – Supply and Demand, Retail Prices and Consumer Sentiment

What Happens If Russia Withdraws From the United Nation Black Sea Grain Initiative?​

May 9, 2023

18:01

In this episode, Sal Mercogliano - maritime historian at Campbell University (@campbelledu) and former merchant mariner - discusses the implications if Russia withdraws from the Black Sea Grain Initiative on May 18, 2023.

00:00 Introduction
00:56 Background on Black Sea Grain Initiative
08:04 What will happen if Russia blocks Black Sea grain ships?
14:07 What Happens to Ukraine & the Black Sea?

- Black Sea Grain Deal Ship Inspections Halted as Russian Deadline Looms https://gcaptain.com/black-sea-grain-...
- What Happens if Russia Abandons the Black Sea Grain Deal? https://gcaptain.com/what-happens-if-...
- Ukraine Says Russia Has Effectively Stopped Black Sea Grain Deal https://gcaptain.com/ukraine-says-rus...
- Black Sea Grain Initiative Joint Coordination Centre https://www.un.org/en/black-sea-grain...
- What will happen if Russia blocks Black Sea grain ships? https://www.freightwaves.com/news/wha...
- The War Lords and the Gallipoli Disaster: How Globalized Trade Led Britain to Its Worst Defeat of the First World War https://global.oup.com/academic/produ...
- Oceans of Grain: How American Wheat Remade the World https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/tit...

Midwest planting ahead of pace: Weekly Commodity Market Update for 5/9/23​

May 9, 2023

15:58

Market recap (changes on week):
- July corn up $.12 at $5.96
- December 2023 corn up $.04 at $5.29
- July soybeans up $.06 at $14.33
- November soybeans down $.03 at $12.72
- July soybean oil up 1.84 cents at $53.65
- July soybean meal down $6.70 at $426.90/short ton
- July wheat up $.36 at $6.54
- June WTI Crude Oil down $2.87 at $72.74/barrel

Weekly highlights:
- The surge in US gasoline demand was rather short lived. After increasing 12% the week before- gasoline demand fell back down 9%. Energy stocks were down across the board outside gasoline that rose on the lower demand
- US ethanol production was slightly up on the week (+3 million gallons) however corn used for ethanol continues to lag the pace needed.
- The Federal Reserve did increase their short-term rate another quarter point as expected last week. The range is 5-5.25% right now.
- It was another bearish week for US corn sales as they came in net negative for an April week for the first time in 20 years. China canceled 22 million bushels on the week. All other commodities were within expectations. bearish
- Open interest positions were mixed on the week: wheats (flat), corn (+3.2%), soybeans (-2.3%), soybean oil +2.6%), Soybean meal (-1.9%), Cotton (+1.5%) and rough rice (-2%).
- Managed money holdings of futures and options positions were also largely down across the board (wheats being the exception) headlined with corn down 102,849 net positions. Soybeans shed 30,835 positions and soybean meal down 25,816 net positions.
- US grain export inspections were on the lower end of expectations and bearish for corn with the seasonal deficit on old crop exports continuing to grow.
- USDA’s crop progress report showed 49% of the nation’s corn planted- up 23% from last week and above the 5-year average for this time of the year. Corn planting is just about done in Missouri (92%) compared to Dakota’s where planting hasn’t really started.
- 35% of the soybean crop planted- up 16% on the week and above average of 21% for this time of year.
- Conditions for winter wheats increased in the Pacific northwest while largely falling across the plains. The full composite conditions index which accounts for all ratings fell just slightly.

Topics:
- Market recap
- Black Sea trade corridor negotiations
- Corn and soybean planting
- Fed continues rate hike
- USDA May supply and demand preview
- Reports to watch

From the link:

The idea that commodity markets can only yield short-term gains isn’t entirely accurate. During a commodities supercycle, investors can still expect long-term gains of a similar nature, and volatility, to equities.

What Are Commodity Supercycles?

A “commodity supercycle” is commonly described as a period of consistent and sustained price increases lasting more than five years, and in some cases, decades. The Bank of Canada defines it as an “extended period during which commodity prices are well above or below their long-run trend.”

Supercycles occur because of the long lag between commodity price signals and changes in supply. While each commodity is different, the following is a rundown of a typical boom-bust cycle:

As economies grow, so does the demand for commodities, and eventually the demand would outstrip supply. That leads to rising commodity prices, but the commodity producers don’t initially respond to the higher prices because they’re unsure whether they will last. As a result, the gap between demand and supply continues to widen, keeping upward pressure on prices.

Eventually, prices get so attractive that producers respond by making additional investments to boost supply, narrowing the supply and demand gap. High prices continue to encourage investment until finally, supply overtakes demand, pushing prices down. But even as prices fall, supply continues to rise as investments made during the boom years bear fruit. Shortages turn to gluts and commodities enter the bearish part of the cycle.

A 111-year-old Dutch coastal trader returned to the sea in a new commercial sail cargo operation. The De Tukker, operated by Dutch startup Eco Clipper, is a prototype and part of a growing niche sail cargo operation launched to highlight eco-friendly shipping. Departing Amsterdam earlier today, the company reports De Tukker is handling well and is currently crossing the Bay of Biscay.

Weekly Livestock Market Update for May 12, 2023​

May 12, 2023

15:51

* * This week in the markets – Live fed cattle prices were unchanged on the week, while feeder cattle prices were mostly steady to $3.00 higher this week. June live cattle were up $2.40 on the week. August feeder cattle were up nearly $7.25 on the week. Choice box beef was down $2.40 this week. Cash hogs were up $0.75 this week. June lean hog futures were up $0.60 on the week. Pork cutout values were up $1.65 this week on strength in ham prices.

* Weekly Slaughter Numbers – At the end of the week, cattle slaughter was 646,000 head, up 23,000 on the week and down 5,000 for the year. Hog slaughter was 2.375 million head, that’s down 72,000 from the previous week and up 12,000 on the year. Year-to-date cattle slaughter is down 3.1%, while hog slaughter is up 1.5%

* Retail Prices – The April 2023 choice beef retail beef price was $7.85 per pound, up 2.8% from March on stronger ground beef prices. The April 2023 retail pork price was $4.73 per pound, down 0.6% from the March level. Both beef and pork retail prices remain 25% above their April 2019 level.

* WASDE – 2023 barrow and gilt prices were reduced by $4.50 per cwt in the April WASDE relative to last month. 2023 fed cattle prices were increased by $1.50 per cwt this month in the report. This was the first month WASDE provided 2024 estimates and they show another 2 billion decline in beef production in 2024. The 2023/24 corn price estimate is $4.80 per bushel.

* Consumer Sentiment – The May 2023 consumer sentiment estimate showed a 9.1% decline relative to last month. The expectations component showed the largest decline as consumers are worried about an economic downturn.

* Next week’s reports – Cattle on Feed

From the link:

Companies are learning to think outside the mine to lock down raw materials for the energy transition, invest in metal extraction from oil and wastewater, and push boundaries on recycling.

Without new resources, the shift to cleaner energy could stall within the next five years, the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (SME) warned in a March 21 report. For example, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights, lithium chemical consumption is forecast to exceed supply annually between 2024 and 2027. For copper, Commodity Insights analysts expect the balance of refined copper supply and demand to tilt from a surplus to a deficit of 160,000 metric tons by 2027.


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