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Ethiopia and Somaliland ink MoU for Red Sea access: Ethiopia has inked an MoU with Somaliland to gain access to its Red Sea port of Berbera, Reuters reports. Under the agreement, Somaliland will give Ethiopia access to its Red Sea port for military and commercial purposes for a period of 50 years, Yahoo Finance reports. This includes a 20 km long strip that will be leased to Ethiopia as one of its entry ports. In exchange, Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia, would receive Ethiopia’s recognition of independence “in due course” as well as a stake in Ethiopian Airlines.
China lowers tariffs on many foreign goods: China, effective 1 January, has lowered tariffs on over 1k goods from other countries and applied preferential tariff rates for 43 of the least-developed countries, Wam reports. The tariffs are in line with 20 freetrade or preferential trade agreements with 30 countries or regions. China has reduced import tariffs on resources, key equipment, food formulated for medical purposes, and parts that are in short supply domestically. Zero tariffs will be applied for some medicines, raw materials for oncology drugs, and drugs for rare disease.
A boost for China’s global industry and supply chains: The tariffs will ensure the secure supply of products, lower costs, and help the country accelerate innovative development of advanced manufacturing, Beijing Academy of Social Sciences associate researcher Wang Peng told the Global Times on Monday. The move will grant goods from more countries access to China’s huge consumer market, Peng added.
Russian oil cargoes move away from India: Six vessels transporting Russian Sokol crude, which have been idling off the coast of India for days amid payment issues, are moving away from the country and heading eastwards towards the Malacca Strait, Bloomberg reports. “China seems to have stepped in to save the idling Sokol cargo,” said Viktor Katona, lead crude analyst at data intelligence provider Kpler. Indian refiners did not receive a single Sokol shipment in December due to payment issues, and India’s oil imports from Russia declined that month to their lowest since January 2023.
Background: Russian Urals oil fell below the Western USD 60 cap amid increased freight rates caused by new US sanctions on shipowners and a decline in global oil prices in November. Freight rates for Urals oil shipments from Russia’s Baltic ports of Primorsk and Ust-Luga to India rose to USD 9.2-9.5 mn per tanker per voyage on Friday, up from USD 8 mn last week.
REMEMBER- A price cap of USD 60 per barrel on shipments of Russian oil mandated by G7 countries and Australia came into effect last February. The regulation seeks to curb revenues that Moscow can divert to its war in Ukraine while also ensuring relative stability in global oil supplies.
ALSO WORTH KNOWING THIS MORNING-
- Wisdom Marine Group + Synergy launch maritime JV: Taiwan’s Wisdom Marine Group and Singapore’s Synergy Group have launched a bulk carrier joint venture — dubbed Wisdom Synergy Ship Management — to provide ship management services. The JV will be headquartered in Singapore with operational centers in Taiwan and India. (Statement)
