Baltimore to temporarily open 4th shipping channel
The Port of Baltimore is preparing to open another, deeper temporary shipping channel this week so at least some of the vessels that have been stranded at the port can depart.
The new 35-ft deep Fort McHenry Limited Access Channel is scheduled to be open to commercially essential vessels from 25 April until 6am ET on 29 April or 30 April "if weather adversely impacts vessel transits," according to a US Coast Guard Marine Safety Information Bulletin. The channel will then be closed again until 10 May.
The channel also will have a 300-ft horizontal clearance and 214-ft vertical clearance.
This will be the fourth and largest channel opened since the 26 March collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. The Unified Command has said that the new limited access channel should allow passage of about 75pc of the types of vessels that typically move through the waterway. Vessels that have greater than 60,000 long tons (60,963 metric tonnes) of displacement will likely not be able to move through the channel and those between 50,000-60,000 long tons of displacement "will be closely evaluated" for transit.
There were seven vessels blocked from exiting the port as of 27 March, including three dry bulk carriers, one vehicle carrier and one tanker, according to the US Department of Transportation. Two of the bulk carriers at berth in Baltimore are Kamsarmax-sized coal vessels, data from analytics firm Kpler show.
The US Army Corps of Engineers still expects to reopen the Port of Baltimore's permanent 700-foot wide, 50-foot deep channel by the end of May.
The Key Bridge collapsed into the water late last month when the 116,851dwt container ship Dali lost power and crashed into a bridge support column. Salvage teams have been working to remove debris from the water and containers from the ship in order to clear the main channel.
Related news posts
Houston Ship Channel open after storms
Houston Ship Channel open after storms
Houston, 17 May (Argus) — The Houston Ship Channel reopened to all traffic around 1am ET Friday after strong storms closed a portion of the waterway late Thursday, according to the US Coast Guard. A roughly eight-mile portion of the Houston Ship Channel from the Sidney Sherman Bridge to Greens Bayou closed from 9pm ET to 1am ET due to two ship breakaways and a probe into a potential fuel oil spill, the Coast Guard said. That span of the channel offers access to Chevron's 112,000 b/d Pasadena refinery, Valero's 215,000 b/d Houston refinery and LyondellBasell's 264,000 b/d Houston refinery, as well as Targa's Galena Park LPG marine terminal and Kinder Morgan's refined product terminal in Galena Park. A storm brought winds up to 74mph to the Houston area on Thursday night, according to the US National Weather Service. By Tray Swanson Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
India’s Gail signs 14-year time charter for LNG carrier
India’s Gail signs 14-year time charter for LNG carrier
Mumbai, 17 May (Argus) — India's state-controlled gas distributor Gail has signed a 14-year time charter agreement with US-based LNG shipping firm CoolCo for an LNG carrier, the former said on 16 May. The time charter for the LNG carrier will start operating from early 2025 as it is currently under construction. Gail is likely to receive the carrier during October-December in the Gulf of Mexico, CoolCo said. The charter will be the fifth LNG carrier in Gail's vessels that are intended to secure long-term supply of LNG in India. Gail will have an option to extend the charter by two additional years beyond its contracted 14-year period. The LNG carrier will likely be used to ship LNG volumes from the US, Russia, and from its recent contracts with Abu Dhabi's state-owned Adnoc and trading firm Vitol , a company official told Argus . (See table) "Long-term cargoes are there and there are a few lifts from the spot markets as well," the source added. "It is how the consumption pattern of the country is now shaping more towards LNG since domestic volumes are constrained." The firm also planned to add an LNG tanker to ship cargoes from the US, Argus exclusively reported in February. Gail expects India's gas demand to rise and has been looking to secure more term deals . Gail is seeking an additional 7mn-8mn t/yr of LNG for its portfolio with a further 1mn-2mn t/yr, the firm said in January. This reiterates targets set in August last year . Gail's portfolio growth aligns with the government's plan to increase the share of gas in its primary energy mix to 15pc by 2030 from around 6pc in 2022. By Rituparna Ghosh Gail contracts mn t/yr Supplier/terminal Volume Fob/des Dates Sabine Pass 3.5 fob 2018-38 Cove Point 2.3 fob 2018-38 SEFE 2.5 des 2018-41 Vitol 1.0 des 2026-36 Adnoc 0.5 des 2026-36 Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Trade curbs spur Chinese battery firms to look overseas
Trade curbs spur Chinese battery firms to look overseas
Beijing, 17 May (Argus) — An increasing number of Chinese battery firms have accelerated their expansions outside China, to meet buoyant overseas demand and to tackle escalating geopolitical curbs. These curbs include the US' newly announced tariff hikes on China's electric vehicles (EVs) and batteries from 2024 or 2026, and the EU's potential punitive duties on battery EVs originating from China. The US' Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the EU's Critical Raw Material Act have also prompted many Chinese battery material producers to step up their overseas expansions. China's battery material manufacturer Hunan Zhongke Electric has unveiled a plan to invest no more than 5bn yuan ($692mn) to build a production plant for battery anode material in Morocco, in which some other Chinese firms have also invested in similar projects. The plant has a designed capacity of 100,000 t/yr and will be developed in two phases with 50,000 t/yr each. The firm aims to complete plant construction for each phase in 24 months. Zhongke is a major battery anode material producer in China with 210,000 t/yr of capacity as of the end of 2023. Its output of anode materials rose to 143,513t in 2023, up by 14pc from 125,460t a year earlier, driven by the country's rising EV sales. It aims to expand overseas sales in the coming years. Major Chinese copper producer Zhejiang Hailiang also outlined a plan to build a 25,000 t/yr production plant for copper foil used in lithium-ion batteries in Morocco. Construction will take 36 months. "The layout of the Morocco project can help us penetrate into the European and US markets as soon as possible as exports from Morocco are duty free to these markets," Hailiang said. "This will help us avoid any international trade barrier." Morocco is one of the main destinations for Chinese companies to invest in and build overseas battery component plants given its abundant resources for phosphate, a main chemical compound in a lithium iron phosphate battery, and its free trade agreement (FTA) with the US. It is also a major cobalt metal producing country outside China, with cobalt being a critical mineral used in the manufacturing of lithium-ion batteries. Major Chinese battery material producer EVE Energy is on track to develop a production project for energy storage batteries in Malaysia. It will establish a subsidiary EVE Energy Malaysia Energy Storage to develop this project to meet Malaysia's energy storage battery demand, although it has not disclosed the capacity, construction schedules and launch dates. The plant is the second phase of EVE's new energy products development in Malaysia. It in August 2023 started building a plant for cylindrical batteries mainly used in electric two-wheelers and electric tools in the southeast Asian country. The firm said the US' new tariff hikes will not affect its business because it had planned the Malaysia projects for consumer batteries and energy storage in advance, and these projects will support shipments to US consumers by 2026. New US tariff hikes US president Joe Biden's administration announced on 14 May that the tariff on lithium-ion EV batteries will immediately increase to 25pc, while the tariff on all other lithium-ion batteries is set to increase to 25pc in 2026, both from the current rate of 7.5pc. This is likely to trigger more Chinese battery companies to increase their overseas investments to avoid the tax, according to industry participants. The US' tariff hikes have drawn strong criticism from China. "Politicising and instrumenting economic and trade issues is typical political manipulation," said the country's ministry of commerce. "The Section 301 tariff hikes goes against President Biden's promise of 'not seeking to contain China's development' or 'not seeking to break the chain of decoupling from China'. The US should immediately correct its wrongful actions and cancel the tariffs. China will take 'resolute" measures to safeguard its own rights and interests'." Chinese battery firms' investments in Morocco Company Products Capacity Launch dates CNGR CAM precursors, LFP, black mass 120,000 t/yr, 60,000 t/yr, 30,000 t/yr 4Q, 2024 BTR CAM 50,000 t/yr N/A Hunan Zhongke Anode material 100,000 t/yr in 24 months Huayou Cobalt/LG LFP 50,000 t/yr in 2026 Huayou Cobalt/LG Lithium salts 52,000 t/yr N/A Sichuan Yahua/LG Lithium hydroxide N/A N/A Hailiang Li-ion battery copper foil 25,000 t/yr in 36 months Source: Company releases Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Texas barge collision shuts GIWW section: Correction
Texas barge collision shuts GIWW section: Correction
Corrects volume of oil carried by barge in fourth paragraph. Houston, 16 May (Argus) — Authorities closed a six-mile section of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW) near Galveston, Texas, because of an oil spill caused by a barge collision with the Pelican Island causeway bridge. The section between mile markers 351.5 and 357.5 along the waterway closed, according to the US Coast Guard. A barge broke away from the Philip George tugboat and hit the bridge between Pelican Island and Galveston around 11am ET today. Concrete from the bridge fell onto the barge and triggered an oil leak. The barge can hold up to 30,000 bl oil, but it was unknown how full the barge was before the crash, Galveston County county judge Mark Henry said. It was unclear when the waterway would reopen. An environmental cleanup crew was on the scene along with the US Coast Guard and Texas Department of Transportation to assess the damage. Multiple state agencies have debated the replacement of the 64-year-old bridge for several years, Henry said. The rail line alongside the bridge collapsed. Marine traffic does not pass under the bridge. By Meghan Yoyotte Intracoastal Waterway at Galveston Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Business intelligence reports
Get concise, trustworthy and unbiased analysis of the latest trends and developments in oil and energy markets. These reports are specially created for decision makers who don’t have time to track markets day-by-day, minute-by-minute.
Learn more