IMO 2020

Most forecasts have been conservative, but not this one.

Kick your week off with What the Truck?!? as we talk IMO 2020, Uber Freight’s big fleet plans and California buses going electric, then play some trucker slang Market Expert […]

Time-charter rates can offer a clearer view on future sentiment than headline-grabbing spot rates.

Golden Ocean could be a trendsetter, buying a stake in a marine-fuel operation to offset IMO 2020 price and availability risks.

Asia-U.S. container rates are still not showing peak-season strength, but optimism remains.

Dry-bulk shipping firm pushes up dry docking to fit in with scrubber installations.

A supply-demand imbalance and oceanic low-sulfur fuel regulations are making air freight more attractive relative to ocean freight. Or, at least, that is what air carriers hope.

As with product tanker rates, crude tanker rates show no sign yet of upside from IMO 2020 preparations.

IMO 2020-driven refining activity and tanker demand appears to be materializing slower than previously expected.

Shipowner organizations are expressing concern about proposed modification of tolls at the Panama Canal on Jan. 1 and are asking for it be postponed until June 2020.

Owners of ships, railcars and trucks face increased risk from environmental regulations, credit rating agency Moody’s said. The value of $265 billion in debt owed by transportation companies may be […]

Peak oil demand “lurks like a monster in the shadows,” warns Stifel analyst Ben Nolan.

Every installed scrubber will be one less ship competing with existing buyers of diesel in the post-IMO2020 world.

Dry bulk transport is about to get more expensive thanks to new marine fuel regulations.

FreightWaves’ Freight Intel Group has released a new study of the impact of IMO 2020 on the U.S. trucking industries (and other industries). Read what may happen to diesel fuel prices.

With IMO2020 just around the corner, FreightWaves Radio this weekend takes a look at how it might impact fuel markets. J. Scott Susich, the director of data analytics and advisory […]

Also in the oil report: the closure of an East Coast refinery is not good news for IMO2020 preparation

Research by Clarksons confirms acceleration of scrubber installations, reducing available ship capacity.

The FreightWaves Freight Intel Group is producing research culled from FreightWaves SONAR and other sources. Read about its first several research papers and how to learn more.

Small carrier profits are about to be pressured by a large government organization and it’s not the FMCSA, DOT, or CVSA.

The balance among the fuels needed to be in compiant with the new rule will have a knock-on effect down to the price at the pump.

There may be so little demand post-2020 for high-sulfur fuel oil that it may end up stored aboard tankers.

IMO 2020, the scrapping of the shipping lines’ block exemption on alliances and new players in the market could see major changes to the container shipping market over the coming 10 years.

Hyundai Merchant Marine (KSE: 011200) started off 2019 much as it ended 2018, racking up losses. Despite a first quarter gain in volume that boosted revenue, fuel prices and finance […]

Large ships may provide liner operators with economies of scale, but they are proving more expensive in the chartering market.

The DOE statistical arm has the most precise forecast of anyone on what IMO2020 will mean for diesel prices. It’s fairly conservative.

There are reasons to be optimistic about rates in both the crude and product tanker sectors – and INSW’s fleet spans both categories.

IMO 2020 is will increase demand for distillates and put upward pressure on diesel. How should truckers prepare?

“Any attempt by the United States to reverse course on IMO 2020 could…potentially backfire on consumers.”

According to Seaspan Corporation, the largest U.S.-listed container-ship lessor, liner companies are pulling vessels from service to install scrubbers, which is increasing demand for new charters.

So far this year, there has been heightened refinery downtime for maintenance and upgrades, but the tide is expected to turn in the second half, to the benefit of product-tanker rates.

Tanker companies like Euronav expect to see financial benefits from impending environmental regulations, which will change the type of fuel burned at sea and could eventually limit how fast ships can go.

Market expert Brian Aoaeh’s article focuses on the current and upcoming maritime industry issues – IMO 2020, global warming, rising sea levels, etc. Read Brian’s take on how the maritime industry is meeting these challenges.

After languishing for years, tanker stocks are rising in 2019. Investors are seeking to get in early on the belief that the turnaround in rates is nigh. They’ve been wrong before — will their bets pay off this time?

The European Union has submitted a proposal for consideration at next month’s Marine Environment Protection Committee meeting at the IMO that will bring consistency to reporting on the use of low sulphur fuels encouraging shipping companies to comply with the new regulation.

Also in this week’s report: an ExxonMobil recommendation might be problematic for truckers; paying somebody to take natural gas away

Oil giant ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) has announced a multi-billion dollar upgrade of its Singapore integrated manufacturing complex to convert more fuel oil and other “bottom-of-the-barrel” crude products into higher value lube base stocks and distillates. The upgrade will also increase the capacity of the facility to produce an extra 48,000 barrels per day (b/d) of low-sulfur fuels to meet the International Maritime Organization’s 0.5 percent sulfur regulation (IMO 2020), which goes into effect on January 1, 2020.

More refiners make pledges to supply market for IMO-compliant fuel, but if those efforts fall short, diesel may be next best option.

EIA still sees no uniform international policy on how the IMO 2020 regulation will be enforced.

There are plenty of conflicting data points on the direction of the economy, which might suggest that everything may be just fine in the near term.

World Shipping Council reigns in predictions of severe price spikes resulting from low-sulfur fuel regulation.

Biofuels created by recycling used cooking oils are being tested by ocean-going ships in pilot trials around the world. Such biofuels may even be gaining acceptance by ocean-shippers, freight forwarders and ship operators.

International oil major BP has announced that it will retail a new very low sulfur fuel oil following successful sea trials, however, it has not released a date when sales will begin. The fuel will have a maximum sulfur content of 0.5 percent and will be sold by BP around the world. BP is one of several refiners, such as Shell and Sinopec, that are offering or are researching low-sulfur fuel.

Biggest trade lane into North America saw price surge last year that may not ease up much as double-digit increases seen in rates for 2019.

Refineries and supply chain not ready for ocean shipping’s uptake of new fuel; even heating oil prices possibly in play during election year.

If IMO 2020 boosts demand for LNG bunkering, the U.S. isn’t ready to take advantage.

Largest ocean freight forwarder sees fuel bills increasing as much as 50 percent based on current price spreads.

Two major agencies see a supply/demand balance that is tightening on the back of steep cuts coming out of OPEC.

Maersk’s deal with New Jersey-based PBF Logistics secures 10% of the line’s IMO 2020 compliant fuel supply.

Never-ending peak season may finally be peaking as shippers rush in goods; shipowners tallying up the cost of scrubbers.

It was only one trade and the comparisons to diesel prices are less than perfect. But there now is an actual transaction that reflects a value for now of what fuel might do under IMO2020.

Saudi Arabia and Russia agree on further production cuts to prop up crude prices; Qatar leaves OPEC to focus on nat gas; heavy sweet crudes are trading at a premium in anticipation of IMO 2020.

Surge in low-sulfur fuel use by ships could usher in two to three year period of uncertainty in refining industry.

Also in the pickup: IMO meets with 2020 on the horizon; Rhine levels are causing plants to shut down; C.R. England and its charitable cause

We see falling demand for oil, lumber, and wheat out of Canada in the future due to a combination of market forces. Canadian Pacific Railroad appears to be especially exposed to this freight recession.

FreightWaves CEO Craig Fuller, Chief Economist Ibrahiim Bayaan, and Senior Meteorologist Nick Austin discussed Hurricane Florence’s impact on freight, the general macroeconomic situation, and the upcoming IMO 2020 regulations on maritime fuel.

As late as last month, Maersk leadership insisted that scrubbers were not a solution for the new fuel regulations imposed by the International Maritime Organization beginning in 2020, but now they’ve admitted they will install scrubbers on some vessels.