Host Newsroom
October 11, 2018
Louisiana Shipyard to Become Global Logistics Hub
The former Avondale Shipyards site in Jefferson Parish, LA has been purchased by Avondale Marine LLC, a new joint venture with plans to redevelop the New Orleans-area property as a global logistics hub. Read more.
Longshoremen Vote to Ratify Local Contracts at Port of Baltimore
The 2,000 unionized dockworkers at the port have ratified new, six-year local contracts with the Steamship Trade Association of Baltimore, according to the president of the International Longshoremen’s Association Local 333, the largest of the three locals. Read more.
US Coal Exports on Track For Second Highest Year Behind 2012: Census Data
US coal exports totaled 9.1 million mt in August, up 5.5% from July and up 17.3% from the year-ago month, according to US Census data released Friday. Read more.
October 5, 2018
Gov. Edwards Announces Purchase of Avondale Shipyards Site
A day earlier, Avondale Marine – a joint venture of Virginia-based T. Parker Host and Illinois-based Hilco Redevelopment Partners – acquired the 254-acre property from Huntington Ingalls Industries. Avondale Marine will redevelop the site’s crane, dock and terminal assets along nearly 8,000 feet of Mississippi River frontage, while connecting global waterborne commerce with manufacturing, fabrication and distribution facilities onshore. Capturing connections to six Class I rail carriers in the New Orleans area, the new owners envision creating a world-scale logistics hub at the former shipyard. Read more.
Peabody Energy Held Talks to Buy Colombia’s Drummond International—Energy Journal
U.S. mining firm Peabody Energy Corp. has held discussions to purchase Colombia’s top coal exporter, Drummond International LLC, report The Wall Street Journal’s Sarah McFarlane and Ben Dummett. Read more.
Baltimore's ILA Locals to Vote Thursday on Six-Year Contracts for Port Work
Members of the three International Longshoremen’s Association locals that represent dockworkers in the port of Baltimore are set to vote Thursday on their local contracts with the Steamship Trade Association of Baltimore. Read more.
September 27, 2018
Mississippi River Traffic Halts North of St. Louis
The Mississippi River closed to vessel traffic north of St. Louis on Wednesday after barges carrying loads of corn broke free from one another and struck a river lock, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said. Read more.
Pin Oak Holdings, LLC To Sell Mt. Airy Terminal To MPLX LP
Pin Oak Holdings, LLC ("Pin Oak") today announced the sale of Pin Oak Terminals, LLC ("Pin Oak Mt. Airy") to MPLX LP (NYSE :MPLX ) for approximately $450 million in cash. As part of the transaction, Pin Oak will retain an economic interest in the facility. Pin Oak is a partnership between Dauphine Midstream, LLC ("Dauphine") and Mercuria Energy Group Ltd. ("Mercuria"). Read more.
September 26, 2018
Big Opportunity’ Looms for Canadian Soybeans in U.S.-China Spat
Canada, a relatively modest participant in the global soybean market, is poised to leap into the fray with a chance to boost exports to China, which has shunned shipments from the U.S. amid an escalating trade war. Read more.
Freight Moves Between U.S. and Neighbors Up 13.5 Percent
Trucks carried 62 percent of goods transported to Mexico and Canada in July, according to figures released Tuesday by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Read more.
Germany to Become Net Grain Importer After Drought – USDA
"The drought has heavily affected grain, rapeseed and forage production in Germany," said the report. "As a result, Germany is expected to strongly increase imports of soybeans/soybean meal and to become a net grain importer." Read more.
September 19, 2018
Texas Gulf Coast Exports More Oil Than It Imports for the First Time
It's a big achievement that highlights a surge in US oil exports, and that shows how the shale boom can make America less reliant on foreign oil. Read more.
Offshore Mega-Terminals are Coming Because Oil Supertankers are too Big for our Ports
The next big thing in oil is happening offshore, but it has nothing to do with drilling. The United States wants to build offshore shipping terminals big enough to handle the size and volume of a new generation of megatankers. Read more.
Hyperlapse Tour of Most Anticipated New Cruise Ship of 2018
Celebrity Cruises has released a stunning hyperlapse tour of Celebrity Edge, one of the most anticipated new cruise ships of 2018. We get an impressive tour during the fitting out phase at the shipyard in France. Read more.
Texas Petrochemical Plants Turn Ethane into Building Blocks of Plastic
For more than 60 years, energy companies have used it as a natural storage tank, carving out salt caverns some 3,000 feet deep to hold millions of barrels of petroleum products. Read more.
September 18, 2018
Florence May Have Blown a Hole in Port's Coal Exports for September
Last month, the port’s coal terminals moved about 44 percent more coal than it did in August 2017, exporting about 4.1 million tons, up from 2.8 million tons a year ago, according to T. Parker Host. Read more.
The Cargo Ships That ‘Liquefy’
The International Maritime Organisation has codes governing how much moisture is allowed in solid bulk cargo in order to prevent liquefaction. Read more.
September 17, 2018
Dockworkers at US East and Gulf Coast Ports Sign Six-Year Contract Extension
The union representing longshoreman on the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts signed a new six-year contract extension that promises “labor peace and stability.” Read more.
Booming Texas Seaport Objects to Trafigura Offshore Site
A Texas seaport handling booming exports of U.S. crude oil has invoked a 12-year-old criminal case against the commodities trading house Trafigura as it seeks to slow its efforts to build an alternative site to load supertankers. Read more.
Trump Says Trade Talks with Canada Going Well
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that trade talks with Canada were going well and that Ottawa very much wanted to make a deal. Read more.
September 11, 2018
US Coking Coal Exports Surge
US coking coal exports rose by 22.6pc year on year to 36.6mn short tonnes (st) (33.2mn metric tonnes) in January-July, in part fuelled by a 133.2pc jump in volumes to India. Read more.
Steel Production Up 3.7 Percent This Year
Great Lakes steel production ticked down to 691,000 tons last week, a slight decrease. Steel mills in the Great Lakes region made 692,000 tons of metal the previous week, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. Read more.
US Truck Capacity Tightness Drives Inland Port, Barge Innovation
The tightening North American truck market – albeit far tighter in the United States than in Mexico and Canada, largely because of the electronic logging device (ELD) mandate – is giving extra oomph to freight projects offering shippers options other than the highway. Read more.
September 10, 2018
IPAA Urges White House to Modify Steel Import Trade Policies
As the oil and gas industry grapples with tariffs on imported steel and a byzantine process for bypassing them, the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) urged the Trump administration to "understand and address" the unintended consequences of both actions, especially the increased burden on the industry's small businesses. Read more.
US OCTG, Pipe Prices May Fall After Trump Order
The latest presidential proclamation potentially would lead to the arrival of higher volumes of imported oil country tubular goods (OCTG) and line pipe from South Korea, Brazil and Argentina if US consumers can establish that certain items are unavailable domestically. Previously, only buyers of material from countries with a Section 232 tariff, not quota, could request product exclusions. Read more.
Flint Hills to Expand Ingleside Oil Export Facility
Flint Hills Resources is planning to expand its Ingleside crude oil export facility as exports of U.S. crude continue to ramp up along Texas' Gulf Coast. The terminal expansion will include four new crude oil storage tanks and 60,000 barrels per hour of loading capability. Read more.
Analysis: U.S. Steel Tariffs a Boon for Some European Producers
Washington's tariffs on steel imports have prompted warnings of an earnings hit for European producers, but for companies such as ArcelorMittal with operations in increasingly protected markets, levies are expected to yield a profit bonanza. Read more.
Western Australia Union Says It Sees Alcoa Alumina Output Hit by Strike
Alcoa’s alumina production has likely been hit by a four-week strike at its Western Australian operations, the Australian Workers’ Union said on Wednesday, raising the prospect of a widening supply deficit in the key aluminum-making ingredient. Read more.