Latest news with #BalticExchange
Business Times
11-07-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Singapore ranked world's top port for 12th consecutive year
[SINGAPORE] Singapore has been ranked the top shipping centre in the world, for the 12th year running, on the 2025 Xinhua-Baltic International Shipping Centre Development Index (ISCDI). The ISCDI Report, published on Friday (Jul 11), gave Singapore a near-perfect score of 99.5 out of 100, meaning the Republic has taken top spot for the 12th consecutive year, or every year since the index's inception. Singapore's success is 'attributed to its strategic location, robust international outlook and a well-established ecosystem of professional maritime services'. Rounding out the top five were London (81.02), Shanghai (81.01), Hong Kong (80.77) and Dubai (75.97). The index is a collaboration between China news agency Xinhua and maritime market data firm Baltic Exchange. It evaluates a total of 43 maritime locations. Port metrics take 20 per cent of the ranking, including cargo throughput, crane count, container berth length and port draught. Business services account for half of the weighting, which assesses the presence of professional maritime support businesses, including shipbroking, ship management, ship financing, insurance and legal services, alongside hull underwriting premiums. The evaluation also considers general business environment factors as 30 per cent of the score, covering customs tariffs, the level of electronic government services and overall logistics performance.
Straits Times
26-06-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
Forum: Broaden SkillsFuture support for industry-specific training
A few months ago, I attended a Singapore Maritime Foundation forum on global industry trends. Expert speakers urged the attendees – mostly in their late 30s or 40s – to seize opportunities and upgrade their knowledge and skills to remain relevant. Motivated, I searched for relevant courses on the SkillsFuture platform, but was disappointed. First, the courses I was interested in were not eligible for additional funding under the SkillsFuture Credits (Mid-Career), or SCMC, scheme. While Singaporeans still receive fee discounts for these courses, the lack of subsidies under SCMC means a significant cash outlay for an independent applicant without company sponsorship. Second, it is baffling that none of the shipping courses offered by the Baltic Academy is available under the SkillsFuture platform. As the educational arm of the Baltic Exchange – an organisation first established in 1900 to represent the global shipping community and acquired by the Singapore Exchange in 2016 – its courses would be suitable for mid-career shipping professionals looking to deepen industry expertise. I hope the SCMC scheme can be extended to more courses, including those outside the local education eco-system but which are industry-specific and recognised internationally. This would make SkillsFuture a more relevant and useful platform for mid-career professionals looking to reskill or upskill. Sim Eng Cheong More on this Topic Forum: What readers are saying Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Bloomberg
26-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Oil Tanker Rates Collapse as Conflict in Middle East Abates
The cost of shipping Middle East crude to customers in Asia collapsed on Thursday, the latest sign of oil markets returning to normal after conflict eased in the world's top petroleum-exporting region. Charter rates slumped by 17% to 55.50 industry-standard Worldscale points, according to data from the Baltic Exchange in London. It works out at roughly $1.60 a barrel.
Straits Times
24-06-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
Oil tanker rates soar to highest since 2023 on Middle East conflict
Oil freight rates have more than doubled since Israel first fired missiles at Iran. PHOTO: EPA-EFE Follow our live coverage here. SINGAPORE – Tanker rates extended gains as tensions in the Middle East ratchet higher, with ship owners demanding bigger fees to call at ports in the Persian Gulf after the US launched strikes on Iran over the weekend. The benchmark rate for a supertanker carrying two million barrels of crude from the Middle East to China climbed 12 per cent, reaching the equivalent of about US$76,000 a day, the highest since March 2023, according to data from the Baltic Exchange in London. Freight rates have now more than doubled – adding about US$1.40 a barrel to the cost of shipping oil – since Israel first fired missiles at Iran as ship owners demand bigger premiums to continue allowing their vessels to sail through the Strait of Hormuz and into the Persian Gulf. Navies have cautioned about an elevated risk to shipping in the region, though for now flows appear largely unaffected. Forward-freight agreements – a derivative of shipping rates – for the key route for supertankers carrying crude from the Middle East to East Asia rose in the week's opening session. Such contracts for the rest of June were being bid at 100 industry standard Worldscale points on June 23, according to people involved in the market, though it was unclear at what level they last traded. Worldscale points are a percentage of an underlying flat rate, which is set for each major route at the start of the year. On June 23, the Joint Maritime Information Centre (JMIC), which liaises between navies and merchant ships, said it assesses an elevated threat risk for shipping. 'This is attributed to significant regional conflict, uncertainty of Iranian state and non-state actors and mixed messaging,' it said in a daily update. 'JMIC recommends the shipping industry remain vigilant to the changing security environment and have threat and risk mitigation plans at the ready.' BLOOMBERG Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Bloomberg
23-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Tanker Rates Soar to Highest Since 2023 After US Bombs Iran
Tanker rates extended gains as tensions in the Middle East ratchet higher, with shipowners demanding bigger fees to call at ports in the Persian Gulf after the US launched strikes on Iran over the weekend. The benchmark rate for a supertanker carrying 2 million barrels of crude from the Middle East to China climbed 12%, reaching the equivalent of about $76,000 a day, the highest since March 2023, according to data from the Baltic Exchange in London.
