The company said it expects to default on its loans and its ability to continue as a going concern is in doubt, meaning it may be headed to federal bankruptcy court. If the company is unable to continue operations it would remove the capacity of one of the largest Jones Act carriers from the industry [...]
The Indian navy has had some success at fighting pirate activity this year, as this is the fourth instance already where they have captured Somali pirates. It is also the most significant instance, as the navy stopped the pirates from capturing the Maersk Kensington and was able to capture a pirate flag ship in the [...]
The map, which is updated daily by the Climate Prediction Center, shows total soil moisture levels for the U.S., as well as their anomaly vs. normal levels and what percentile current levels hit vs. normal levels. There are also charts comparing the past 12 months, as well as ones with average historical data that provide [...]
While most of the roads and all of the affected ports and airports have been cleared for use in Japan, only 58% of impacted bullet-trains and 52% of conventional main lines are back to normal. The bullet-trains should not pose a large issue, as road and plane are viable alternative transport for passengers. This would [...]
Key coal shipments destined for Japan from Indonesia have been delayed and temporarily redirected to China. More than 500,000 tons of coal that were supposed to be delivered has been diverted because of problems trying to get transportation services in Japan that can handle the offloading (a result of the current disaster). We put this [...]
There is a potential drop ahead in commodity prices if large fund investors move to equities. As business people, we all understand that there is a certain amount of market speculation that sits outside of normal supply and demand drivers. Obviously, these are elements that can greatly affect the price we pay for raw materials. [...]
Businesses watching steel prices need to pay attention: China will fall 56 million tons short of meeting consumption needs for coking coal. Coking coal is one of three key ingredients in making steel – forcing mills in the country to go abroad to try and find adequate additional supplies. Markets currently being looked at to [...]
Libya rebels hit a stumbling point just as UN officials worked to allow them to sell oil. After successfully using aid from the UN (air strikes) to move Libyan Government forces away from two key cities (and within closer proximity to Tripoli), a series of problematic news items sent oil upward again – with WTI [...]
The momentum has shifted in Europe as many had expected it to. In the beginning the Germans got the Greeks to agree to some pretty draconian steps but at the time many asserted that the Greeks will agree to anything as they always plan to ignore it in the end. Then came the Irish and [...]
The rate of inflation is now higher than it has been ay anytime since 2008 and the belief is growing stronger that central banks will be reacting sooner than later. The point is made that this inflation is still at the headline rate and not at core but in the European context even the core [...]
