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The Panama Canal is adding three daily slots for transit through its Panamax Locks, bringing the total to 27, according to an advisory note (pdf) by Panama Canal Authority. The addition of the slots, which are based on present and projected levels of Gatun Lake, will become available from 25 March, with applications for the slots open since 11 March, the note says. The Canal Authority may also increase the number of slots available on auction depending on Gatun Lake’s water levels. The canal increased its daily transits to 24 in January of this year at the end of the rainy season, according to a December statement by the authority.
Background: The Panama Canal has placed significant limits on vessels transiting the waterway due to a drought decreasing its water levels, which has caused major congestion. The sale of slots to transit the canal netted USD 235 mn from shipping companies in 2023.
US steel unions call for investigation into Chinese shipbuilding: US steel unions are urging Washington to look into alleged unfair economic practices by China in the maritime logistics and shipbuilding industry, The Financial Times (FT) reports. The united steelworkers union intends to file a petition with the US Trade Representative alleging that Chinese government policies, including preferential financing for Chinese companies, are allowing China to maintain a stronghold on the international shipbuilding sector, FT reports, citing unnamed insider sources. The petition is being filed under the same statute used by the former president Donald Trump to justify the institution of tariffs on Chinese imports in 2018. President Joe Biden’s administration will have 45 days to decide whether it will open a probe into the matter, the newswire explains.
Ukraine launched dozens of drones and rockets into Russia on Tuesday,causing serious damage to a major oil refinery, Reuters reported yesterday. This is the latest in a series of Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian energy facilities. Russian authorities have reported attacks including on Lukoil ’s Norsi refinery, and said that a drone was destroyed on the outskirts of Kirishi, home to the second largest oil refinery in Russia, the newswire reports. A main crude distillation unit (AVT-6) at Norsi was damaged, causing a partial halt in production, an anonymous source told Reuters. Norsi refines some 15.8 mn tonnes of Russian oil a year, 4.9 mn tonnes of gasoline, 5.6% of the country’s fuel oil, and 7.4% of its aviation fuel, industry sources told the outlet.
Ukraine has been actively targeting Russian energy and industrial infrastructure, hitting Russia’s Mikhailovsky GOK iron ore plant last week. Two Ukrainian-launched drones also hit Russia’s Volgograd oil refinery, the largest plant in the country’s south, early last month.
Uber Freight wants to boost its freight under management in Europe to EUR 2 bn by 2028, Bloomberg reports. The expansion will be achieved through a digital platform through which companies’ entire supply chains can be managed. Uber’s freight segment accounted for 14% of revenues in 2023, although it was down 25% y-o-y due to weakening trucking rates driven by low demand. However, recent indications suggest a reversal as supply chain disruptions ease. Uber Freight’s slice of the logistics market in Europe is valued at EUR 200 mn.
Boeing deliveries were down in February: US planemaker Boeing delivered 27 airplanes in February this year, one less than February 2023, as the planemaker faces curbs on production growth, Reuters reported yesterday. The US Federal Administration has temporarily capped Boeing’s production of the MAX line of planes, one of which was involved in the Alaska Airlines incident in January, the newswire said. Boeing has delivered 54 planes, including 42 MAX jets, so far in 2024, down from 66 in the first two months of last year, Reuters also said. Meanwhile, European competitor Airbus posted 33 gross orders for the first two months and has delivered 79 aircraft since the start of the year.
