Infospectrum Insights

The latest round of tariff increases imposed by the US on Chinese-made goods will, we believe, impose different levels of potential risk on the major liner operators. Second-time around, the wider market ramifications could also be more significant. 

This week's Insight has come from Infospectrum alumnus Ian Staples, who has been keeping an eye on movements in the major South African coal export point, Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT).

This month, we spent some time with Wanting Huang, Senior Analyst at Infospectrum’s Singapore office, who shared what she gets up to on a typical day and why she enjoys being a member of the Infospectrum team.

In today’s global maritime industry, continuous access to high quality counterparty risk appraisal has never been more vital.  As we progress the latest phase of our global expansion plan, our growing team of analysts are keenly observing a plethora of changes that are impacting traders, credit managers, and CFOs. These include, but are not limited to, the upcoming introduction of the IMO’s global sulphur limit, complex industry and macroeconomic trends, and changes in the counterparty risk appraisal market. 

A key member of our Americas team, Luciano Mezzalira, is a proud Venezuelan, and has been following the ongoing political crisis in the country.  We've covered the challenges of compliance issues in our earlier article. In our latest piece, Luciano covers the issues surrounding national oil company Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA), and how this is impacting its exposure to the shipping markets.

We've covered the impact of the recent dry bulk market movements on the operating sector in our recent article, but there are some market participants whose model ensures money is made in any market by walking away from commitments.

This month, we spoke with Simon Hasslacher, Senior Analyst at Infospectrum’s Americas office, to learn more about how his shipping career began and what he gets up to outside of work.

Is it business as usual for ocean carriers as they continue to buy large vessel assets? In a rapidly changing market, it is important that shipping lines have sufficient liquidity to pay for assets that some would argue are, in certain cases, not even required.