Alice Hancock
@alicemhancock.bsky.social
Financial Times global shipping and industry correspondent covering ships, steel, chemicals and the like. London-based. Views my own. Tips and thoughts: alice.hancock@ft.com
Europe’s biggest stainless steelmaker finds new way to extract critical metal that could help build a Western-only supply chain to counter China www.ft.com/content/ffb3...
Europe’s biggest stainless steelmaker finds new way to extract critical metal
Outokumpu says its method to produce chrome used in jet engines could also help build western supply chain of critical metals
ft.com
Oil price on track for longest losing streak in more than 12 months ft.trib.al/430Rj02
Oil price on track for longest losing streak in more than 12 months
Brent crude falls below $99 a barrel in Asian trading amid talks over Middle East conflict
ft.trib.al
EXCL: Trafigura is planning to list an oil tanker business with a fleet of the largest size of tankers, taking advantage of record high rates thanks to the Middle East. www.ft.com/content/a1c9...
Trafigura to float supertanker arm in first IPO of a business
Commodities trader to take Volare Shipping public in Oslo as Gulf crisis drives tanker rates to record highs
ft.com
Sanctions loophole lets UK insurer cover tankers carrying Russian gas ft.trib.al/NHznWvk
Sanctions loophole lets UK insurer cover tankers carrying Russian gas
NorthStandard legally insuring vessels despite government expanding powers to restrict maritime services
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EXCL: A group of 18 of major seafaring nations have published a statement for the first time in its 60ish year history to underline their concerns that the maritime system as we know it is at risk of collapse www.ft.com/content/c651...
Global shipping rules are collapsing, say maritime nations
Wars and the growth of the shadow fleet are causing a ‘structural shift’ in global trade, according to 18 maritime authorities
ft.com
Decarbonising steel production with electric arc furnaces is good for the planet but will it ever make a profit for companies like ArcelorMittal? as.ft.com/r/ffed1805-0...
ArcelorMittal faces green steel price test at flagship low-carbon plant
Company has ‘no real visibility’ over whether its new electric-arc furnace will be able to pass on added costs to buyers
as.ft.com
On the mining and demining of the Strait of Hormuz, by @financialtimes.com’s Bob Haslett, Charles Clover, and Alice Hancock. www.ft.com/content/0403...
The risky mission to de-mine the Strait of Hormuz
US Navy divers, boats and robots made covert night-time trips to dispose of explosives in the crucial channel
ft.com
Jebel Ali is the 9th largest port in the world and the biggest in the Middle East but the war has had a major impact and could well threaten its future: www.ft.com/content/daab...
The port that built Dubai: war exposes a dangerous dependence
Jebel Ali faces ‘existential risk’ as Strait of Hormuz disruption stifles marine traffic to the Gulf
ft.com
Maersk is planning to instal the first wind sail on a container ship -- age old techniques and that... www.ft.com/content/6e50...
Maersk turns to wind sails to cut fuel for container ships
Maritime industry returns to age-old technology to reduce future fuel consumption
ft.com
Iran has listed 46 vessels that it says are "non-compliant" with its rules for transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Those listed are mostly ships deployed on shuttle runs for oil and gas in and out of the Gulf. TBC whether Iran's threats will put them off. www.ft.com/content/9ebc...
Iran threatens 46 ships in Strait of Hormuz transit crackdown
Tehran said vessels violated protocols for travelling across waterway and could face fines or confiscation
ft.com
Great piece by Gill Plimmer - who has been on water companies for years giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... The fight to save England’s rivers
Meanwhile in tanker world, asset prices are nearing record highs as owners buy ships to take advantage of rocketing freight rates in the Middle East. And, interestingly, Gulf countries buy up more ships to gain better control of their exports: www.ft.com/content/a805...
Demand for tankers soars as Gulf oil producers search for ways to export cargoes
Middle Eastern countries looking to secure their own fleets are driving up prices
ft.com
The shipping container is just a simple steel box that can carry around 120,000 bananas. Yet it has transformed global trade, enabled China's manufacturing dominance - and is now pushing the global shipping network to its absolute limits: www.ft.com/content/b88c... @pmdfoster.bsky.social
The box that built globalisation
Containers have transformed ports, cities and trade. Now the revolution is reaching a limit
ft.com
The Caruzo, a 28-year-old tanker sanctioned by EU and UK governments, sailed out of the Black Sea through the Bosphorus on Tuesday with anti-drone nets and stackable water tanks hung off its sides, according to footage filmed by shipping analyst @yoruk.bsky.social. w/ @alicemhancock.bsky.social
Russian ghost fleet tankers use ‘Mad Max’ nets to fend off Ukraine’s drones
Defences on vessels under sanctions aim to protect against Ukraine’s vast maritime drone campaign
ft.com
German states suspend Sunday truck ban as low Rhine levels disrupt shipping ft.trib.al/qAoevKE
German states suspend Sunday truck ban as low Rhine levels disrupt shipping
Emergency move comes as economists warn of hit to country’s GDP growth
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JD Vance asked Ukraine to halt strikes on tankers using Russian port ft.trib.al/x4FtSAL
JD Vance asked Ukraine to halt strikes on tankers using Russian port
Washington alarmed by Kyiv’s campaign on vessels collecting Kazakh oil from Novorossiysk
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Back from summer hols with a story about the ice: While Arctic sea ice is melting at record rates, Chinese shipping companies are eyeing up a route to reach Europe in half the time via an ‘Ice Silk Road’ www.ft.com/content/4456...
China bypasses shipping chokepoints with ‘Ice Silk Road’ through Arctic
First scheduled container service between Europe and Asia will significantly reduce voyage times
ft.com
It appears that Iran has taken a third ship if satellite imagery is to be believed... This time belonging to the Greek shipping company Dynacom: www.ft.com/content/0c0b...
Greek tycoon’s tanker towed into Iranian waters
Shipping group Dynacom ‘trying to verify’ whereabouts of vessel hit in Strait of Hormuz
ft.com
Great piece on Venezuela's missing billions of oil money that appears to have disappeared into the US www.ft.com/content/0e56... from excellent @financialtimes.com LatAm and data colleagues
The US has collected about $13bn of Venezuela’s oil money. Where is it?
Washington has given diverging accounts of where the earthquake-shattered country’s funds are going
ft.com
EU approaching “peak sanctions” as France, Germany, Greece & others demand measures against Russia be cut to protect their companies “Around the table, the moral imperative is functioning less and less” said one diplomat w @alicemhancock.bsky.social & @chriscook.news as.ft.com/r/b8082481-c...
EU faces crumbling support for new Russia sanctions
National capitals refuse to support measures that could hurt big companies
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⛴️ Athens blocks EU sanctions against Moscow to protect Greek billionaire shipping tycoon that built fleet to serve Putin’s Arctic gas projects w @alicemhancock.bsky.social & @chriscook.news as.ft.com/r/793a4480-5...
Athens opposes new EU sanctions on Russia to shield Greek shipping company
George Prokopiou’s Dynagas specialises in transporting cargoes from Moscow’s Arctic LNG
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Ukraine said it has hit more than 110 Russian vessels in nine days in the Sea of Azov, making it one of the most concentrated series of attacks on shipping ever to take place. www.ft.com/content/6d5e... w/ @alicemhancock.bsky.social
Ukraine targets Russian shipping in ‘unprecedented’ drone assault
Over the past week, Kyiv has struck vessels in the Sea of Azov at a faster pace than during the 1980s Iran-Iraq tanker wars
ft.com
NEW: Dubai plans new port to bypass Strait of Hormuz in the latest sign of this crisis having much longer term impacts for trade and shipping: www.ft.com/content/1f97... Story with Middle East colleagues @financialtimes.com
Dubai plans new port to bypass Strait of Hormuz
Project to build capacity on UAE’s east coast represents a major shift after US-Iran war
ft.com
Lovely visual piece about transformers from the @financialtimes.com visual team... A century-old device that is holding up progress on AI: ig.ft.com/transformers/
The century-old device choking the world’s AI push
Surging data-centre power demands are intensifying pressure on transformer supply chains
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FT Exclusive: Of the top 20 companies that have earned the most from Russian shipments since June 2023, eight are Greek, led by Dynacom Tankers, which was founded by shipping billionaire George Prokopiou. ft.trib.al/CwxPNRR
There's a lot more interest building around nuclear-powered ships as shipowners lose faith in green fuels coming to fruition. Other ideas are Co2 capture on ships - and trad fossil fuels... I took a deep dive in here: www.ft.com/content/2eb3...
Notable moment: Oil prices are back at prewar levels as Gulf flows pick up through Hormuz from @financialtimes.com energy desk colleagues www.ft.com/content/7a05...
Oil price back at prewar levels as Gulf flows pick up
Brent crude drops below the $72.48 a barrel it traded at in late February before Iran conflict erupted
ft.com
Qatar says US-Iran hotline essential to reopen Strait of Hormuz ft.trib.al/QWTAmGq
Qatar says US-Iran hotline essential to reopen Strait of Hormuz
Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed says Gulf state will resume normal LNG production within weeks
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