By the Numbers
Port of Virginia sets new annual volume record
AJOT | January 13, 2020 | Ports & Terminals | Ports | By The Numbers
The Port of Virginia set a new annual record for container cargo volume having handled more than 2.93 million twenty-foot equivalent units, or TEUs, in calendar year 2019, a 3 percent increase over last year’s total.
Wholesale electricity prices were generally lower in 2019, except in Texas
AJOT | January 13, 2020 | Energy | By The Numbers
Record-high electricity demand in the summer led to much higher 2019 wholesale electricity prices in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) electricity market.
Oil prices poised for slide as tensions cool
AJOT | January 13, 2020 | Energy | By The Numbers
Dramatic initial price reaction to US-Iranian hostilities in Persian Gulf, although less than before the US shale revolution Oil prices have had a tumultuous week since the US launched a drone attack in Baghdad, killing Iranian General Qassem Soleimani. With tensions peaking after the US and Iran traded missile attacks, oil markets priced in a risk premium. However, as long as the flow of oil barrels to the market is not affected, Rystad Energy continues to see a downward risk to prices, with further pressure on OPEC to implement even deeper production cuts in order to keep Brent oil prices around $60 per barrel through 2020. “It is important to look beyond the rhetoric of the headlines and focus on market fundamentals – including the continued rise of non-OPEC oil supply led by US shale, and flat demand growth – which all points to a surplus, not a deficit, in oil balances in 2020,” says Bjørnar Tonhaugen, Head of Oil Market Research at Rystad Energy. “Prospects of Brent prices slipping below $60 per barrel – even in the midst of an intense geopolitical flare up in the Middle East – are entirely plausible.” Oil prices still react dramatically to news of tensions in the Persian Gulf, although less dramatically now than they would have before the US shale revolution. The importance of the region for oil markets is obvious, given that seven Gulf countries alone – Saudi Arabia, Iraq, UAE, Kuwait, Iran, Oman and Qatar – produced around 24 million bpd of crude oil in December 2019. 20200110_PR_CrudeProductionMiddleEast.PNG “With the regime in Tehran under heavy sanctions, Iran is no longer an official major global oil producer. This means the real risk of a conflict between the US and Iran gets pushed to neighboring Iraq, where 5,000 American troops are stationed and where Iran is wrestling for political power. Any proxy war played out in Iraq would put the country’s nearly 4.7 million bpd of crude oil and condensate production as risk,” states Tonhaugen. However, one key reason that geopolitically-driven oil price swings are now more subdued relates to the stabilizing effect of US shale oil production on global oil supplies. The stellar growth of shale has introduced a significant counterweight to the market, as it helps to absorb disruptive events such as the September drone attack on Saudi Arabian oil infrastructure and the geopolitical tensions that followed the assassination of General Soleimani. Rystad Energy forecasts that the ‘call’ on OPEC (in other words, the market demand for OPEC oil) will average about 28.3 million bpd during the final nine months of 2020. By comparison, OPECs actual production in December 2019 was 29.6 million bpd, and the cartel’s new implied production target for the first quarter of 2020 is 29.2 million bpd.
Energy commodity prices rose more than other goods in 2019
AJOT | January 06, 2020 | Energy | By The Numbers
The energy portion of the S&P Goldman Sachs Commodity Index (GSCI) ended 2019 22% higher than it began the year. Price indexes for other commodity types also increased in 2019, but not as much as the energy commodity index.
Rail Traffic for December and the Week Ending December 28, 2019
AJOT | January 03, 2020 | Intermodal | Rail | By The Numbers
The Association of American Railroads (AAR) today reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending December 28, 2019, as well as volumes for December 2019.
Rail Traffic for the Week Ending December 21, 2019
AJOT | December 30, 2019 | Intermodal | Rail | By The Numbers
For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 507,589 carloads and intermodal units, down 10.5 percent compared with the same week last year.
FIS Air Freight Report December 23, 2019
AJOT | December 26, 2019 | Air Cargo | General | By The Numbers
China to Europe versus US spreads decrease as the softer decline in China to US rates (still down another 13 cents this week) is matched by an equal decline from China to Europe (down 15 cents).
Don’t get too excited – OPEC needs to do more in 2020
AJOT | December 23, 2019 | Energy | By The Numbers
The 14-country OPEC bloc, Russia, and a host of other OPEC+ countries agreed on 6 December 2019 to bump up the group’s target oil-production cuts by just over half a million barrels per day, from 1.195 million to 1.699 million bpd, effective 1 January 2020.
Drewry: Port Throughput Indices - December 2019
AJOT | December 20, 2019 | Maritime | Liner Shipping | By The Numbers
The Drewry Container Port Throughput Indices are a series of volume growth/decline indices based on monthly throughput data for a sample of over 220 ports worldwide, representing over 75% of global volumes. The base point for the indices is January 2012 = 100.
Delays loom for LNG and deepwater oil & gas projects as bottlenecks restrain service industry
AJOT | December 20, 2019 | Energy | By The Numbers
A dark cloud of capacity constraints is casting a shadow over the oilfield service industry heading into 2020, mirroring the sharp growth in the number of new projects being brought forward by oil and gas operators.
Port of Hueneme closes out 2019 with record 1.65 million cargo tons and 2,201 new jobs
AJOT | December 13, 2019 | Ports & Terminals | Ports | By The Numbers
VCCA sounds the alarm on lack of economic growth for rest of the county
CREDO released the following statement in opposition to the USMCA:
AJOT | December 12, 2019 | International Trade | By The Numbers
The Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI), which is based on the amount of freight carried by the for-hire transportation industry, rose 1.3% in October from September, rising after a one-month decline, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ (BTS).
Rail Traffic for the Week Ending December 7, 2019
AJOT | December 12, 2019 | Intermodal | Rail | By The Numbers
For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 517,130 carloads and intermodal units, down 9.4 percent compared with the same week last year.
Big E&P spending still needed, but fields with break-even above $60 are priced out
AJOT | December 11, 2019 | Energy | Project / Heavy Lift | By The Numbers
Energy projects that need oil prices above $60 per barrel in order to break even risk being uncommercial going forward, according to Rystad Energy. However, massive investments in exploration and sanctioning are still needed to meet growing global demand.
Port of Oakland export volume up 5.8 percent last month
AJOT | December 10, 2019 | Ports & Terminals | Ports | By The Numbers
November imports declined 7.2 percent
Van rates hit highest mark since January
AJOT | December 10, 2019 | Intermodal | Trucking | By The Numbers
The load-to-truck ratio for vans doubled compared to the previous week, due to pent-up demand following the shortened holiday workweek.
Virginia’s calendar year-to-date cargo volume up nearly 4% despite soft November
AJOT | December 10, 2019 | Ports & Terminals | Ports | By The Numbers
Tariffs on some port, soybean exports waived; Dredging to 55-feet is underway
Savannah continues to build container volumes
AJOT | December 10, 2019 | Ports & Terminals | Ports | By The Numbers
Garden City Terminal marks cargo gains 34 out of past 36 months
U.S. onshore wind capacity exceeds 100 gigawatts
AJOT | December 10, 2019 | Energy | Alternative | By The Numbers
More than half of that amount has been installed since the beginning of 2012. The oldest wind turbines still operating in the United States came online as early as 1975.
The Global Forest Industry in the 3Q/2019
AJOT | December 09, 2019 | International Trade | By The Numbers
A plentiful supply of logs coupled with declining demand moved sawlog prices downward in most major markets around the world in the 3Q/19. The biggest price reductions came in Central Europe, where storm damaged logs flooded the market.
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