April
America is panicking about empty shelves. That’s bad news for markets
The pain of a trade war between the US and China has already started, but Wall Street is all-in on a deal arriving soon. Here’s why that’s optimistic.
Missile fuel blamed for huge explosion at Iran’s largest port
The blast that killed at least 25 people and injured hundreds has been attributed to sodium perchlorate, a major ingredient in solid fuel for missiles.
Trump’s trade war creates worse shipping turmoil than the pandemic
One of the world’s most respected maritime analytics firms says global container volumes will fall this year for only the third time in almost five decades.
Trump hits Chinese vessels with port fees in global shipping shakeup
US importers who rely on Chinese vessels to move everything from crude oil to retail goods warn they may be forced to raise prices for consumers.
Trump trade war shakes up shipping and ripples to Australia
International shipping lines are cancelling scheduled port calls or entire voyages and some are preparing to idle vessels with crew aboard as cargo volumes drop.
March
Trump’s massive shipping fees threaten US trade
The president’s plan to slap huge fees on China-linked ships is starting to choke trade as US exporters struggle to find vessels to send goods abroad.
Australia’s top deal blocker strikes again, target’s shares drop 25pc
In case a market correction and nervous directors are not enough to stall M&A activity, the competition regulator is back in action.
Blazing tanker spills jet fuel after cargo ship crashes into it off UK
The incident, in which the vessel was holding about 140,000 barrels, is one of the most significant maritime disasters near Britain for many years.
How billionaire elites answered Trump’s call on Panama
Li Ka-shing, Larry Fink and Adebayo Ogunlesi picked up the phone and struck a $36 billion deal to take over 43 ports within weeks.
BlackRock buys Hutchison’s Panama ports in victory for Trump
The president had argued without evidence that China had taken over the critical waterway and that the US was paying too much for the passage of ships.
The government spent $500m on trade, but business sees no benefit
After four years of the government trying to streamline international trade, exporters say they are yet to see cost and time savings.
February
Rubio tells Panama that Trump wants the Chinese out
The US secretary of state told the Panamanian president that it must reduce China’s control over the canal or face retaliation from the White House.
January
Time’s up? LNG imports destined for Australia next year
After years of warnings, importing gas looks to be the only way left to head off an energy shortfall in Victoria, a move likened to “importing sand to the Sahara”.
LNG exporters brace for wave of new supply
The consensus view that LNG producers are in for some lean years amid a surge in output has been challenged by some analysts.
December 2024
Trump threatens to take back Panama Canal
The president-elect argued that ships were charged “ridiculous” fees to pass through the vital transportation channel linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
November 2024
China’s $2b Peru port faces obstacles from the Andes to the Amazon
While Chancay may rekindle an old dream of integrating South America’s Atlantic and Pacific coasts, there is no effective way to make it happen.
Import-export firms embrace disrupter Neolink
The Challenger winner of the Business-to-Business category uses AI to decipher thousands of pages of shipping paperwork and speed up deliveries.
October 2024
Tasmania ferry failures ‘farcical and embarrassing’
Tourists planning to pop their caravans on a big new ship to Tasmania and holiday around the Apple Isle could be stuck on the mainland after state’s “diabolical failure” to build a berth to handle new vessels.
Beach bans may last to the weekend in tar ball mystery
Thousands of tennis ball-sized black globules have washed up on some of the city’s most popular beaches, and authorities are worried about a risk to public health.
US dockworkers agree to suspend strike
The cargo backlog from three days of port closures is likely to take 12 days to clear, according to analysts.