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Vietnam shores up protection in trade escalations: Vietnam plans to buy more aircrafts, LNG and other products like security equipment and AI chips from the US as new Trump tariffs approach, Bloomberg reports, citing comments made by Vietnam’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Do Hung Viet at a Hanoi business summit. Vietnam — whose exports account for nearly 85% of its economy — needs to keep the US on its side as its largest export market, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said at the summit.
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Why the interest? Vietnam will likely face trade volatility and potentially benefit from the increased US-China trade tensions as Chinese companies shift production there, but may also become “collateral damage” of US protectionist measures. The US’s potential tariff hike threatens several Asian players other than China, including South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Japan and India. The US bilateral trade deficit with China has decreased since the Trump administration, but deficits with other Asian exporters have risen considerably and may face greater scrutiny.
Copenhagen’s CIP spearheads ammonia seaborne trade: Danish investment firm Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) inked several MoUs through its energy transition fund (ETF) to offer end-to-end solutions for the safe delivery of clean ammonia to shipping firms, according to a press release (pdf). ETF signed an agreement with Norwegian shipping company Færder Tankers to develop a 50k cbm ammonia carrier that will feature high manoeuvrability and ship-to-ship bunkering capabilities, and a second MoU was inked with global last-mile LPG and petrochem delivery leader BW Epic Kosan to develop compact ammonia carriers equipped with dual-fuel ammonia engines and bunkering capacities. The investment firm is also in talks with major shipping operators to establish Very Large Ammonia Carriers (VLACs) for its large-scale projects.
IN OTHER NEWS SHIPPING NEWS- Vosco gears up for fleet expansion: Haiphong-based Vietnam Ocean Shipping (Vosco) has earmarked USD 400 mn for fleet expansion plans, which include two secondhand supramax bulk carriers for USD 23 mn per unit as well as four ultramax new builds with USD 40 mn per vessel, and four new MR tankers with USD 52 mn each, Splash reports. The fleet expansion plans add to Vosco’s 13 vessel fleet, which features a blend of bulk carriers, product tankers, and box ships.
OTHER STORIES WORTH KNOWING THIS MORNING-
- DHL plane crash was not due to sabotage: Lithuanian authorities found no sign that the DHL cargo plane crash was caused by sabotage, but believe technical issues were the cause of the incident. (Reuters)
- Maersk + Lufthansa to support decarbonization: Maersk signed an agreement with Lufthansa Cargo for the decarbonization of airfreight. Through using 400 metric tons of Lufthansa’s sustainable aviation fuel on behalf of Maersk till the end of 2024. (Statement)
