
US port fee fails to deter major shippers from Chinese shipyards
Agencies
While a US port fee targeting ships linked to China has made some vessel buyers hesitant, major shipping companies – including Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), the world's largest – are opting to continue working with Chinese shipyards, saying their competitiveness cannot be easily matched in the short term.
Despite the United States' determination to challenge China's dominance in global shipbuilding, MSC senior vice-president Marie-Caroline Laurent told the Nor-Shipping Forum in Oslo this week that the port fee would not be a barrier to ordering more vessels from China, the shipping news outlet TradeWinds reported.
She said it was good to see the US trying to revive shipbuilding activity, but 'we will need new vessels with the energy transition'.'Those ships today are built to a large extent in China,'
Laurent said. 'They have the competence, they have the capability, and this is where today we will still continue building our vessels.'
The International Maritime Organisation wants the global shipping industry to achieve net-zero emissions in the next 25 years or so. In response, companies are increasingly investing in decarbonisation technologies – such as green fuels – leading to a notable rise in new ship orders in recent years.
Laurent said any revival of America's shipbuilding sector would not happen overnight, and realising that ambition would require state subsidies and the retention of some strategic assets.
'So this is an interesting conversation to have, also with the US administration,' she said. 'Whether that will change our overall strategy in terms of shipbuilding – probably not at this stage.' MSC, which has its headquarters in Geneva, has vessels under construction at several major Chinese shipyards, including Zhoushan Changhong International Shipyard, Guangzhou Shipyard International and Hengli Heavy Industries.It is not the only shipowner saying that Chinese shipyards are irreplaceable in the near future.
In response to media reports suggesting that major Japanese shipping company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) would suspend orders for LNG carriers from China, the company said at the end of last month that it would consider both Chinese and South Korean shipyards.
'Taking the current geopolitical circumstances into account, the company will exercise prudent judgment in selecting shipyards for any new LNG carrier orders,' it said.
'There is only a limited number of shipyards in the world capable of building high-quality LNG carriers to provide stable LNG transportation, and Chinese shipyards are an important partner to ensure diversification and flexibility in procurement sources.' Geopolitical tensions have dampened new vessel orders this year. New orders for vessels with a compensated gross tonnage of 12.6 million were placed in the first four months of the year – down 48 per cent year on year – shipping data provider Clarksons Research said last week.
China secured 54 per cent of those orders, followed by South Korea with 22 per cent.
Recent US trade policies and global tariff actions had 'prompted our customers to adopt a wait-and-see approach, pushing back their ordering decisions', Ren Letian, the chairman of China's largest private shipbuilder, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, said when the Singapore-listed company released its first-quarter earnings late last month.
By May 22, Yangzijiang had recorded US$290 million in new vessel orders this year – around 5 per cent of its annual target.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Qatar Tribune
18 minutes ago
- Qatar Tribune
Fed seen on track to start cutting rates by September
Agencies New York Cooler-than-expected US inflation last month deepened conviction in financial markets on Wednesday that the Federal Reserve will start cutting interest rates by September and deliver a second reduction by the end of this year. A US government report showed the Consumer Price Index - a measure of underlying inflation - rose just 0.1 percent in May after a 0.2 percent rise in April, with overall consumer prices rising 2.4 percent from a year earlier, up just one-tenth of a percentage point from the prior month and less than the 2.5 percent economists hadexpected. Within minutes of the release, traders of short-term interest rate futures had priced in a 68 percent chance that the US central bank would cut rates by a quarter of a percentage point by September, compared with 57 percent before the data. They now also see a still small but rising chance of an earlier rate cut, putting about an 18 percent probability of that happening in July versus about 13 percent earlier on Wednesday. The Fed will almost certainly leave its benchmark interest rate steady in the 4.25 percent -4.5 percent range at the end of its two-day policy meeting next week. The policy rate has been in that range since December. Fed policymakers expect the Trump administration's tariffs to slow progress toward their 2 percent inflation target and to weaken the labor market, but feel that as long as the job market holds up - the unemployment rate has been steady at a relatively low 4.2 percent - they can leave borrowing costs where they are to keep continued downward pressure on inflation. Uncertainty over the path of tariffs and their effects on the economy remains high. President Donald Trump announced earlier on Wednesday that a US-China trade deal had been struck that would set tariffs on Chinese goods at 55 percent - lower than the 145 percent imposed in April but much higher than in recent decades. The US has otherwise struck only one other trade deal, with the UK, as the clock ticks toward the early July expiration of a 90-day pause on sharply elevated tariffs on imports from most of the rest of the world. Even so, financial markets breathed a sigh of relief after the inflation data. 'We are still cautious, but many of the risks that were present in early April appear to be receding at this time,' said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Northlight Asset Management.


Qatar Tribune
18 minutes ago
- Qatar Tribune
Oil prices climb to 2-month high on US-China trade deal, worries about Iran supply
Agencies New York Oil prices rose 2 percent on Wednesday, to their highest in more than two months, as President Donald Trump said the US had a trade deal with China, feeding hopes for the outlook for energy demand in the world's two largesteconomies. Brent crude futures rose $1.32, or 1.97 percent, to $68.19 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude was up $1.51, or 2.32 percent, to $66.49. Both Brent and WTI reached their highest in more than two months. Trump said Beijing would supply magnets and rare earth minerals and the US will allow Chinese students in its colleges and universities. Trump added the deal is subject to final approval by him and President Xi Jinping. The trade-related downside risk in oil has been temporarily removed, although the market reaction has been tepid as it is not clear how economic growth and global oil demand will be affected, PVM analyst Tamas Varga said. Trump said he was less confident that Iran would agree to stop uranium enrichment in a nuclear deal with Washington, according to an interview released on Wednesday. Iran threatened to strike US bases in the Middle East if nuclear negotiations fail and conflict arises with Washington. Ongoing tension with Iran means its oil supplies are likely to remain curtailed by sanctions. Supplies will still increase, as OPEC+ plans to boost oil production by 411,000 barrels per day in July as it looks to unwind production cuts for a fourth straight month. 'Greater oil demand within OPEC+ economies – most notably Saudi Arabia – could offset additional supply from the group over the coming months and support oil prices,' said Capital Economics' analyst Hamad Hussain in a note. In the US, crude inventories fell by 3.6 million barrels to 432.4 million barrels last week, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a draw of 2 million barrels. 'It's a bullish report,' said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho, adding that the demand for motor gasoline began to strengthen. Product supplied for motor gasoline, a proxy for demand, rose by about 907,000 barrels per day last week, to 9.17 million bpd. US consumer prices increased less than expected in May, deepening the conviction in financial markets that the Federal Reserve will start cutting interest rates by September. Lower interest rates can spur economic growth and demand for oil.


Qatar Tribune
18 minutes ago
- Qatar Tribune
US-China trade talks ‘going well' on 2nd day: Howard Lutnick
Agencies Trade talks with China were going well, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Tuesday as the two sides met for a second day in London, seeking a breakthrough on export controls that have threatened a new rupture in fragile ties between the superpowers. Having agreed to step back from a full-blown trade embargo at a first round of talks in Geneva in May, the two sides are now seeking agreement after they accused each other of trying to throttle supply chains with a raft of export controls. White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said on Monday that the U.S. could lift recently imposed export controls on goods such as semiconductors if China sped up the delivery of rare earths and magnets that are crucial to its economy. The blow-up over rare earths, which has sparked alarm in boardrooms and factory floors around the world, came after last month's preliminary deal in Geneva to cut tariffs, which eased investor fears that a trade war would lead to a global slowdown. '(Talks went on) all day yesterday, and I expect them all day today,' Lutnick told reporters. 'They're going well, and we're spending lots of time together.'Trump's shifting tariff policies have roiled global markets, sparked congestion and confusion in major ports, and cost companies tens of billions of dollars in lost sales and higher costs. But markets have made up much of the losses they endured after Trump unveiled his sweeping 'Liberation Day' tariffs in April, aided by the reset in Geneva between the world's two biggest economies. The second round of U.S.-China talks, which followed a rare phone call between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping last week, comes at a crucial time for both economies. Customs data published on Monday showed that China's exports to the U.S. plunged 34.5% in May, the sharpest drop since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the impact on U.S. inflation and the jobs market has so far been muted, tariffs have hammered U.S. business and household confidence and the dollar remains under pressure. The two sides, led at the talks by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, with the Chinese contingent helmed by Vice Premier He Lifeng, are meeting at the ornate Lancaster House in the British capital. The talks ran for almost seven hours on Monday and resumed just before 10 a.m. GMT on Tuesday, with both sides expected to issue updates later in the day. The inclusion of Lutnick, whose agency oversees export controls for the U.S., is one indication of how central rare earths have become. He did not attend the Geneva talks, when the countries struck a 90-day deal to roll back some of the triple-digit tariffs they had placed on each other. China holds a near-monopoly on rare earth magnets, a crucial component in electric vehicle motors, and its decision in April to suspend exports of a wide range of critical minerals and magnets upended global supply chains. In May, the U.S. responded by halting shipments of semiconductor design software, chemicals and aviation equipment, revoking export licences that had been previously issued. Hassett said he expected any export controls from the U.S. to be eased and rare earths released in volume once the two sides had shaken hands in London. But he said any easing would not include the 'very, very high-end Nvidia stuff,' referring to Nvidia's most advanced artificial intelligence chips that have been blocked from going to China over concerns about potential military applications. 'I'm talking about possible export controls on other semiconductors which are also very important to them,' he said.