Chinese Iron Ore and Coal Imports Breakdown
Shipments from Brazil rose to a year to date high of 19.7 Mt in July, up 3.1 Mt year-on-year, while imports from Australia fell by 2.5 Mt to 53.7 Mt. In addition, imports from Chile almost doubled to an all-time high of 2.1 Mt in July.
Meanwhile, China’s coking coal imports fell by 2.2 Mt year-on-year in July to 4.5 Mt following a sharp drop in shipments from Australia (-1.5 Mt to 2.5 Mt) and Canada (-0.8 Mt to 0.2 Mt), customs data shows. However a 2.1 Mt annual rise in imports of steam coal (incl. anthracite and lignite) to 16.7 Mt, was driven by higher cargo volumes from Indonesia (+0.9 to 7.7 Mt), Australia (+0.5 to 4.7 Mt) and Russia (+0.4 to 1.6 Mt)
Seaspan closes $80 million public offering
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Seaspan intends to use the net proceeds of the offering for general corporate purposes, which may include funding acquisitions (which may include equity interests in Greater China Intermodal Investments LLC ("GCI") or assets of GCI), funding capital expenditures on existing newbuild vessels and debt repayments.
ICBC International Securities Limited ("ICBC International"), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Industry and Commercial Bank of China Limited, acted as sole underwriter for the offering.
About Seaspan
Seaspan provides many of the world's major shipping lines with creative outsourcing alternatives to vessel ownership by offering long-term leases on large, modern containerships combined with industry leading ship management services. Seaspan's managed fleet consists of 117 containerships representing a total capacity of over 930,000 TEU, including 13 newbuilding containerships on order scheduled for delivery to Seaspan and third parties by the end of 2017. Seaspan's current operating fleet of 88 vessels has an average age of approximately six years and average remaining lease period of approximately five years, on a TEU weighted basis.
SEASPAN
Why you should want your seafarers to be active on social media
Ask yourself a simple question: “Who do you trust?”
An advertiser or a user who posted a review?
A politician or your friend who might lose her job?
A company spokesperson or an employee you met at a bar?
Since 2001 Edelman has been compiling an annual Trust Barometer to track the level of reported trust in official information sources. Distressingly, though not surprisingly, most people don’t trust official sources of information.
However, there is one source of information from inside your company that people do trust – employees. When it comes to issues of crisis handling, environmental practices, safety standards and even financial earnings, people trust employees more than senior executives – put simply, they’d rather hear from the guy in the boiler suit than the guy in the three-piece suit.
Advertising agencies already know this and ads almost invariably feature consumers and/or employees rather than senior executives. A recent advertisement for Airbus works because it features a diverse group of employees rather than the ceo. Sure, we know it’s scripted and at some level we wonder if maybe we’re actually watching actors, but at first glance we kind of “trust” what they’re saying.
The fact is, people are more likely to believe your seafarers than your appointed spokesperson – a scary thought, since every company eventually faces employee complaints and there’s virtually nothing you can do to stop these complaints ending up on line. With a good communications strategy you can manage these confrontations, but the company usually starts from a position of disadvantage.
If you tell your employees not to post anything about work online, then your most loyal, responsible employees won’t, but this leaves the employees most likely to cause problems as the only public employee faces of your company.
If you have happy employees and you treat them well (and if you’re reading this then I’m guessing you do) then you want them online, because they’re your best ambassadors, your best advertising and your best recruitment tool – and it’s free!
Of course, there are risks. We can tell you countless stories of seafarers posting stupid content that embarrassed their company, but the best way to manage this risk is to ensure that for every embarrassing post there are 100 positive posts from your happy employees.
Some shipping companies are already encouraging online activity, sharing employee posts and even running companywide photo competitions. However, most companies seem to be hoping that if they tell their seafarers to turn off their phones, then social media will just pass them by – it’s not working.
Let your employees brag about the great company they work for. Encourage them to talk about the opportunities they’ve received, free them to share their company pride, but if you’re going to take my advice, then make sure that you have a common-sense social media policy in place and backed up with training, because, while photos of the staff party are great, photos from the after party aren’t’ what you want online.
http://www.seatrade-maritime.com/
New Broker Ratings For Tsakos Energy Navigation Ltd
Most recently issued ratings from research reports:
07/26/2016 – Tsakos Energy Navigation Ltd was downgraded to “neutral” by analysts at UBS. They now have a USD 5.5 price target on the stock.
06/01/2016 – Tsakos Energy Navigation Ltd had its “overweight” rating reiterated by analysts at Morgan Stanley. They now have a USD 8 price target on the stock.
05/31/2016 – Tsakos Energy Navigation Ltd had its “outperform” rating reiterated by analysts at Credit Suisse.
05/04/2016 – Tsakos Energy Navigation Ltd had its “buy” rating reiterated by analysts at Seaport Global Securities. They now have a USD 10 price target on the stock.
03/16/2016 – Tsakos Energy Navigation Ltd had its “buy” rating reiterated by analysts at Jefferies. They now have a USD 10 price target on the stock.
01/12/2016 – Tsakos Energy Navigation Ltd had its “overweight” rating reiterated by analysts at JP Morgan.
09/08/2015 – Evercore ISI began new coverage on Tsakos Energy Navigation Ltd giving the company a “buy” rating. They now have a USD 11 price target on the stock.
05/26/2015 – Tsakos Energy Navigation Ltd had its “buy” rating reiterated by analysts at Euro Pacific Capital. They now have a USD 13.5 price target on the stock.
05/12/2015 – Tsakos Energy Navigation Ltd was downgraded to “hold” by analysts at Zacks.
03/19/2015 – Tsakos Energy Navigation Ltd had its “buy” rating reiterated by analysts at MLV & Co. They now have a USD 10 price target on the stock.
02/17/2015 – Tsakos Energy Navigation Ltd was upgraded to “buy” by analysts at DNB Markets. They now have a USD 9.1 price target on the stock.
01/22/2015 – Tsakos Energy Navigation Ltd had its “buy” rating reiterated by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus. They now have a USD 11 price target on the stock.
01/21/2015 – Tsakos Energy Navigation Ltd had its “buy” rating reiterated by analysts at Canaccord Genuity. They now have a USD 11 price target on the stock.
01/06/2015 – Global Hunter Securities began new coverage on Tsakos Energy Navigation Ltd giving the company a “buy” rating. They now have a USD 17 price target on the stock.
10/07/2014 – GMP Securities began new coverage on Tsakos Energy Navigation Ltd giving the company a “buy” rating. They now have a USD 11 price target on the stock.
The share price of Tsakos Energy Navigation Ltd (NYSE:TNP) was down -0.39\% during the last trading session, with a day high of 5.10. 290982 shares were traded on Tsakos Energy Navigation Ltd’s last session.
The stock’s 50 day moving average is 5.03 and its 200 day moving average is 5.68. The stock’s market capitalization is 435.06M. Tsakos Energy Navigation Ltd has a 52-week low of 4.48 and a 52-week high of 9.63.
Source: FTSE News
Stealthgas inc. reports second quarter 2016 financial and operating results
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OPERATIONAL AND FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
• Successful delivery of one new eco LPG carrier in the second quarter of 2016.
• Period on period increase of vessel calendar days by 15\%.
• Operational utilization of 91.2\% in Q2 2016.
• About 70\% of fleet voyage days on period charters for the remainder of 2016, with close to $180 million in contracted revenues.
• Average fleet age of 9.1 years, with 76\% of our fleet below 15 years of age.
• Revenues in Q2 2016 of $35.7 million ($32.4 million in Q2 2015).
• EBITDA in Q2 2016 of $11.7 million ($9.9 million in Q2 2015).
• Cash on hand of $71.6 million with operating cashflow of $ 17.0 million for Q2 2016.
• Stock repurchase of a shade below 4.0 million shares for a total of $20.3 million, from the beginning of the program in December 2014 to date.
• Fully funded orderbook, following the finalization of the financing terms for our last four newbuild deliveries due in 2017.
Six Months 2016 Results:
§ Revenues for the six months ended June 30, 2016, amounted to $72.2 million, an increase of $4.1 million, or 6.0\%, compared to revenues of $68.1 million for the six months ended June 30, 2015, primarily due to the higher number of vessels in our fleet in the 2016 period.
§ Voyage expenses and vessels’ operating expenses for the six months ended June 30, 2016 were $7.6 million and $29.8 million, respectively, compared to $8.1 million and $23.1 million for the six months ended June 30, 2015. The $0.5 million decrease in voyage expenses was mainly due to the lower bunker prices prevailing in the first six months of 2016 compared to the same period of 2015. The increase in operating expenses, was mainly driven by our fleet expansion and the two vessels coming off bareboat compared to the same period of 2015.
§ Drydocking Costs for the six months ended June 30, 2016 and 2015 were $2.2 million and $0.4 million, respectively. In the first six months of 2016 we had seven vessels drydocked compared to one vessel in the same period of 2015.
§ Depreciation for the six months ended June 30, 2016, was $19.3 million, a $2.3 million increase from $17.0 million for the same period of last year. This increase was due to the higher number of vessels in our fleet in the 2016 period.
§ Included in the first six months of 2016 results are net losses from interest rate derivative instruments of $0.4 million. Interest paid on interest rate swap arrangements amounted to $0.7 million and gains from change in fair value of the same interest rate derivative instruments amounted to $0.3 million.
§ The Company realized a $0.3 million gain on sale of vessel in the first six months of 2016.
§ As a result of the above, for the six months ended June 30 2016, the Company reported a net loss of $0.9 million, compared to net income of $4.6 million for the six months ended June 30, 2015. The average number of sharesoutstanding as at June 30, 2016 decreased to 39.9 million compared to 41.8 million for the same period of last year, mainly due to the repurchase of 3.0 million shares from the beginning of 2015 to June 30, 2016. Loss per share for the six months ended June 30, 2016 amounted to $0.02 compared to earnings per share of $0.11 for the same period of last year.
§ Adjusted net loss was $1.3 million or $0.03 per share for the six months ended June 30, 2016 compared toadjusted net income of $8.2 million or $0.20 per share for the same period last year.
§ EBITDA for the six months ended June 30, 2016 amounted to $25.7 million. Reconciliations of Adjusted Net Income/(Loss), EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA to Net Income/(Loss) are set forth below.
§ An average of 52.9 vessels were owned by the Company during the six months ended June 30, 2016, compared to 46.0 vessels for the same period of 2015.
§ As of June 30, 2016, cash and cash equivalents amounted to $71.6 million and total debt amounted to $422.1 million. During the six months ended June 30, 2016 debt repayments amounted to $31.2 million.
Share Repurchase Program
Since December 1, 2014 to date, the Company has repurchased a total of 3,872,232 shares at an average price of $5.24 per share for a total consideration of $20.3 million, under its $30.0 million buyback program.
Fleet Update Since Previous Announcement
The Company announced the conclusion of the following chartering arrangements:
· A three year time charter for its 5,000 cbm, 2015 built, LPG carrier, Eco Universe, to an Oil Major until August 2019.
· A one year time charter extension for its 5,000 cbm, 2015 built, LPG carrier, Eco Czar, to an international trading house until July 2017.
· A one year bareboat charter for its 46,000 dwt, 2009 built, MR Product Tanker, Stealth Bahla, to a Major Middle Eastern Shipowning company until July 2017
· A six month time charter extension for its 5,000 cbm, 2006 built, LPG carrier, Gas Inspiration, to an international LPG trader until March 2017.
· A six month time charter for its 5,000 cbm, 2006 built, LPG carrier, Gas Ethereal, to an international trading house until February 2017.
· A one month time charter extension for its 5,000 cbm, 2014 built, LPG carrier, Eco Invictus, to an international trading house until October 2016.
· A six month time charter for its 4,000 cbm, 2001 built, LPG carrier, Gas Spirit to an Oil Major until March 2017.
· A six month time charter for its 4,000 cbm, 2014 built, LPG carrier, Eco Corsair to an international trading house until December 2016.
With these charters the Company has contracted revenues of about $180 million. Total anticipated voyage days of our fleet are 69\% covered for the remainder of 2016 and 37\% covered for 2017.
Board Chairman Michael Jolliffe Commented
During the second quarter of 2016 freight rates in our segment remained very weak, continuing to bounce along the bottom. As evident from the previous quarter, our market is presently at a breakeven level, with suppressed profitability. We continue to operate in an extremely difficult market environment with, however, a small orderbook that should assist the segment to balance itself. Unfortunately, there is limited scrapping activity that therefore does not reduce the number of vessels in the water.
As to our Company’s performance this quarter, it was affected by extraordinary events resulting in extended off hire and thus revenue loss. Nevertheless we managed to increase our fleet utilization for 2016 by almost 10\% and keep our secured revenues in the order of $ 180 million in spite of bad market conditions. We feel confident as to our fleet, and most importantly our realized capital expansion as 100\% of our newbuilding deliveries in 2015 and 2016 are currently on period charters providing steady cash flows. In addition we follow a sensible capital management, maintaining our gearing at moderate levels. As per our cash management this quarter, we strategically decided to cut back on our stock repurchase in order to preserve our cash in this turbulent environment. We look forward to monitor the broader market and our Company’s performance in the next couple of quarters as we have no new deliveries up until the first quarter of 2017.
About STEALTHGAS INC.
StealthGas Inc. is a ship-owning company primarily serving the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) sector of the international shipping industry. StealthGas Inc. currently has a fleet of 50 LPG carriers, excluding the two chartered in vessels, with a total capacity of 247,017 cubic meters (cbm), three M.R. product tanker s and one Aframax oil tanker with a total capacity of 255,804 deadweight tons (dwt). The Company has agreed to acquire a further 4 LPG carriers with expected deliveries in 2017. Giving effect to the delivery of these acquisitions, StealthGas Inc.’s fleet will be composed of 54 owned LPG carriers with a total capacity of 334,387 cubic meters (cbm). StealthGas Inc.’s shares are listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market and trade under the symbol “GASS”.
STEALTHGAS INC
SGX expected to complete acquisition of Baltic Exchange in November
SGX has received irrevocable undertakings voting in favour of the acquisition from the Baltic Exchange directors and certain shareholders represting around 74\% of the existing issued share capital of Baltic Exchange.
Ahead of the proposed November completion of the acquisition, the deal will go through a court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement under Part 26 of the Companies Act 2006.
The procedure involves, among other things, allowing the Baltic Exchange shares to be transferred to SGX Baltic Investments (SBI) and Baltic Exchange shareholders will receive cash of GBP160.41 ($210.92) for each share, as well as GBP19.30 per share as a final dividend.
In aggregate, the cash price and the special dividend value Baltic Exchange's entire issued ordinary share capital at approximately GBP87m.
The parties have also agreed to post-acquisition commitments including strengthen existing market benchmark production, maintain membership subscription fees and other data and clearing fees for at least five years, maintain Baltic Exchange's headquarters in St Mary Axe, and maintain existing multiple clearing house model.
“We look forward to working together with the Baltic Exchange to develop new products, benchmarks and services to the benefit of Baltic members, SGX shareholders and the shipping community worldwide,” said Loh Boon Chye, ceo of SGX.
Guy Campbell, chairman of Baltic Exchange, said: “The proposed acquisition will accelerate the growth and development of the Baltic Exchange beyond what it could achieve on its own.
"Following extensive consultations with stakeholders, over the past few months, the board believes that SGX's offer is in the best interests of Baltic Exchange shareholders, members, panellists, employees and of the broader London maritime hub, from where it will continue to be based,” Campbell said.
Jefferies International Limited and Nomura International plc are acting as financial advisers to SGX the Baltic Exchange respectively.
www.seatrade-maritime.com
NordLB faces ‘considerable’ loss as shipping loan troubles bite
NordLB warned on Thursday that it was facing a “considerable” loss this year, after taking another hefty round of provisions against losses on its shipping loan portfolio.
The German Landesbank has traditionally been one of Europe’s main maritime lenders but said earlier this year that it would significantly reduce its exposure to the shipping industry, which is in the grip of a brutal downturn.
NordLB took €435m in provisions for loan losses in the first quarter, and added a further €568m in the second quarter, warning that the situation in global shipping markets — which have been hit by slowing Chinese demand and ill-timed investments in large container vessels — had “worsened sharply”.
As a result of the provisions, the north German bank made a €406m net loss in the first half of the year, down from a net profit of €290m in the same period a year earlier. NordLB’s fully loaded core tier one capital ratio — a key measure of financial strength — slipped from 12.2 per cent at the end of December to 11.2 per cent at the end of June.
Gunter Dunkel, chief executive, said that the “further deterioration of shipping markets in the first half of the year made higher than expected writedowns necessary”.
“Thanks to the good development of our businesses apart from ship financing, as well as our consistent strengthening of our capital position in recent years, we can deal with this loss entirely on our own,” he said, adding that the group’s aircraft and energy-financing businesses had performed well.
NordLB said in April that it intended to cut its portfolio of shipping loans, which stood at €19bn at the beginning of the year, to between €12bn and €14bn. It has set up a special unit that will search worldwide for buyers for both ships and shipping loans, and Mr Dunkel said on Thursday that the bank had managed to offload about €1.1bn of maritime loans in the first six months of the year.
On top of this, the bank announced on Monday that it had struck a deal to sell a further €1.3bn of loans to the private equity group KKR and an unnamed sovereign wealth fund. It expects that the deal will be completed in the fourth quarter.
Mr Dunkel conceded that the reduction of NordLB’s shipping portfolio would weigh on the bank’s results in the short term but said that, in the medium term, they would “strengthen” the lender.
NordLB is in talks to take over its smaller peer, Bremer Landesbank, which has also been hit by the downturn in shipping markets, and in which NordLB already owns a 54.8 per cent stake. A spokesman for NordLB said that he had no comment on how the talks were progressing.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2016.
US LNG tanker arrives in China
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The first cargo of US LNG to target the world's biggest LNG demand center in northeast Asia arrived Monday at the Chinese port of Yantian, according to cFlow, Platts trade flow software.
The Maran Gas Apollonia was the 19th cargo of LNG to load from the Sabine Pass export facility in the US Gulf of Mexico, but the first to reach northeast Asia since the first loading in February this year.
The Shell-controlled vessel was previously expected to deliver into Latin America, but changed course headed for Asia in late July.
Exports to the key markets of China, Japan and South Korea were made considerably more economical with the opening of the expanded Panama Canal last month.
The Maran Gas Apollonia was the first LNG tanker to transit the newly expanded canal.
Previous cargoes from Sabine Pass have been delivered to South America, the Middle East and South Asia, with the majority of cargoes going to South America.
Just two US LNG cargoes have so far made it to Europe -- one to Portugal and one to Spain.
But with the start-up of the second train of Sabine Pass at the end of July, it is expected that more US LNG will make its way to Europe.
Spain's Gas Natural has a 20-year offtake agreement for LNG from Train 2 of Sabine Pass.
Shell has annual offtake of 3.5 million mt from Sabine Pass Train 1.
platts.com
Nakilat upgrades satellite communications system
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Under the contract, Global Eagle Entertainment’s EMC is supplying global Ku-band VSAT connectivity and content to enable a range of internet, data and voice services for the vessels and crew. The installations were completed recently on eight Nakilat vessels, which will ensure continuous connectivity for their ships sailing global routes. The onboard satellite communication suite includes a high-quality voice-over-IP system for the corporate network, lowering the costs of voice calls over the satellites. The crew welfare system provides always-on internet connectivity to communicate with family and friends at home.
Nakilat Administration Director Rashid Hamad Al-Marri said, “We are delighted to sign this agreement with EMC which will significantly contribute to the development of the communication systems’ infrastructure and facilitate Nakilat’s maritime operations. As an owner of one of the largest LNG fleets in the world, staying connected while at sea is essential for Nakilat’s global operations. By utilizing EMC’s VSAT technology, we are able to ensure real-time information is accessible and that our personnel can stay in touch with their families during the vessel’s voyage while at the same time, realize cost savings for the company.”
“We are honored that Nakilat has chosen EMC to perform this project. Nakilat’s modern LNG and LPG carriers are highly sophisticated specialized ships, requiring the highest levels of dependable connectivity for ships’ business and crew welfare,” said Gilles Gillesen, president of EMC’s commercial shipping business unit. “Our seamless global coverage and network infrastructure, coupled with our suite of patented technologies, provides an unmatched value proposition enabling customers like Nakilat to bring the benefits of modern voice, internet and high-speed data to their ships at sea.”
Nakilat
Stellar Acquisition III Inc. Announces Pricing of $65,000,000 Initial Public Offering
The units are expected to be listed on the NASDAQ Capital Market ("NASDAQ") and trade under the ticker symbol "STLRU" beginning today. The closing of the Company's initial public offering is expected to be consummated on or about August 24, 2016. Each unit consists of one share of the Company's common stock and one warrant, enabling the holder thereof to purchase one share of common stock at a price of $11.50 per share. Once the securities comprising the units begin separate trading, the common stock and warrants are expected to be listed on NASDAQ under the symbols "STLR" and "STLRW," respectively.
Maxim Group LLC is acting as sole book-running manager for the offering. Chardan Capital Markets, LLC and EarlyBirdCapital, Inc. are acting as co-managers for the offering. The Company has granted the underwriters a 45-day option to purchase up to an additional 975,000 units at the initial public offering price to cover over-allotments, if any.
The offering is being made only by means of a prospectus. When available, copies of the prospectus related to this offering may be obtained from Maxim Group LLC, 405 Lexington Ave., New York, NY 10174, Attn: Prospectus Department or by Tel: (800) 724-0751.
A registration statement relating to the securities has been declared effective by the SEC on August 18, 2016. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.
About Stellar
Stellar is a blank check company, also commonly referred to as a Special Purpose Acquisition Company, or SPAC, formed for the purpose of entering into a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities. The Company's efforts to identify a target business will not be limited to a particular industry or geographic region, although it intends to focus efforts on seeking a business combination with a company or companies in the international oil and gas logistics, land and maritime oil and gas transportation, terminal and energy storage industries.
Stellar Acquisition III Inc.
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