U.S. Retail Sales Fall 0.2% In May, Smaller Drop Than Expected

- U.S. Retail Sales Fall 0.2% In May, Smaller Drop Than Expected



Jun 14, 2011

The U.S. Census Bureau estimated retail and food services sales for May at $387.1 billion today, down 0.2% from April, but up 7.7% from May of 2010.

Economists had expected a drop of 0.7% for May. The increase from March 2011 to April 2011 was revised down from 0.5% increase to a 0.3% increase.

Excluding slumping motor vehicle sales, which fell 2.9% from April, total retail sales rose 0.3%.

Core sales, which exclude automobiles, gasoline, and building materials, increased 0.2% in May from April.

For the first five months of the year, retail sales have totaled $1.87 trillion, an 8% increase over the same period in 2010.

Sales at gasoline stations, up 17.5%, lead the pack, followed by sales of motor vehicles, which despite slumping in April and May due to the Japanese earthquake, are still up 13.3% so far this year.

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Toyota Launches Prius Minivan, Orders Above Target

- Toyota Launches Prius Minivan, Orders Above Target



Jun 14, 2011

Toyota Motor Corp (NYSE:TM) has received 52,000 orders for the new Prius hybrid minivan in Japan, only one month after its launch. The new model, called the Prius Alpha had an initial sales target of 3,000, set by the company.

The original Prius hybrid model received 180,000 orders after its June 2009 relsease in Japan. The Prius also had a monthly sales goal at launch of around 10,000.

Toyota Motor has a potential upside of 15.9% based on a current price of $79.72 and an average consensus analyst price target of $92.4.

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Japan to Launch Joint Oil Exploration with Top Russian Firm -Nikkei

- Japan to Launch Joint Oil Exploration with Top Russian Firm -Nikkei

Friday, June 03, 2011
Dow Jones Newswires

The Japanese government is in talks with Russia's state-owned Rosneft to jointly develop oil fields in eastern Siberia and the Far East, with exploration starting as early as this year, The Nikkei reported early Saturday.

Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and Russia's top petroleum company will form a working-level committee this summer to study deposits in the Magadan oil field in the Sea of Okhotsk as well as in eastern Siberia. If promising reserves are found, a new firm will be established, with a Japanese consortium holding a stake of up to 49%.

Inpex, Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp., and trading houses are expected to participate.

After the March earthquake and tsunami, Russia proposed joint resource and energy development with Japan. Despite territorial disputes with Russia over islands off Hokkaido, Japan aims to strengthen bilateral economic relations and secure a steady supply of petroleum.

A geological research institute estimates that the Magadan field holds about 1.8 billion barrels of oil.

Copyright (c) 2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

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Japan to promote renewable energy

Japan to promote renewable energy



May 10, 2011

USA Today is reporting that Japan will scrap a plan to obtain half of its electricity from nuclear power. Instead Japan will look to promote renewable energy and conservation as a result of the ongoing nuclear crisis that the country is facing.

According to the report, Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan said Japan needs to "start from scratch" on its long-term energy policy. Nuclear plants supplied about 30 percent of Japan's electricity, and the government had planned to raise that to 50 percent by 2030. This decision to cut back on the use of nuclear energy comes after the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant was heavily damaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami and began leaking radiation.

Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the stricken plant, has been struggling for nearly two months to restore critical cooling systems that were knocked out by the March disaster.

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Ford's Asia plants could see idle time

Ford's Asia plants could see idle time



Apr 14, 2011

Ford (F) CEO Alan Mulally announced the company's Asia-Pacific operations will feel more negative effects from the Japanese disaster, with its factories in the region short on Japanese-made parts. Though Mulally stated the company's earnings and business plan are not yet affected, that could change if idle time in these plants goes on too long.

Ford says Asia-Pacific operations may have to stop production

Ford says Asia-Pacific operations may have to stop production



Due to parts shortages from Japan, Ford (F) says its operations in the Asia-Pacific region may have to slow or stop production later this month. The automaker, which has 13 plants in the Asia-Pacific region, has temporarily halted operations in the U.S. and Europe because of shortages.

The company expects its operations will be affected beginning the last week of April into May. Ford said in an SEC filing, "We continue to assess the impact of the earthquake and resulting events in Japan on our Automotive operations.

Although we have no production facilities in Japan, we do obtain materials and components from suppliers located in Japan, and we are working closely with those suppliers to assess their production and shipping capabilities and to minimize any disruptions.

We also are pursuing other sources of supply as necessary and practicable...Because the situation in Japan continues to develop, supply interruptions related to other materials and components from Japan could manifest themselves in the weeks ahead.

Should the supply of a key material or component from Japan be disrupted and an alternate supply not be available, we could have to reduce or temporarily cease production of vehicles, which could adversely affect our and Ford Motor Credit Company's financial condition and results of operations."

Toyota and Nissan to resume production at 50% of planned volumes

Toyota and Nissan to resume production at 50% of planned volumes



Toyota (TM) and Nissan (NSANY) will each resume production at all of their factories in Japan from mid-to-late April, though output will be at 50% of planned volume. Toyota will restart manufacturing of its entire line-up at its 17 Japan plants from April 18, while Nissan will open its engine plant in Fukushima Prefecture on April 18. Output at all of their facilities in Japan will remain "well below" full capacity for an indefinite period, both companies say.

Toyota Announces Temporary Shutdown of All North American Factories "Inevitable" (TM)

Toyota Announces Temporary Shutdown of All North American Factories "Inevitable" (TM)




Toyota Motor Co (NYSE:TM) announced earlier today that they will have to close down all of their North American factories by the end of this month due to a parts shortage caused by the damage from the Japanese earthquake and tsunami.

The temporary shutdown of the company's 13 factories in North America is inevitable, the company said. How long the production stoppage will last is unknown. 25,000 workers will be affected, but no layoffs are expected.

The factories have been using parts from their inventories and those that were shipped before the disaster, but those supplies are running out.

Spokesman Mike Goss said, "We're going to get to a point this month where that gap in the pipeline starts to show up. So we'll have to suspend production for a while,"

Toyota gets about 15% of the parts for cars and trucks built in North America from Japan, "but still you have to have them all to build the vehicles," Goss said.

Shares of Toyota Motor are trading down 1.29% at $79.47.

General Electric to Offer Gas Turbines to Tokyo Electric Power

General Electric to Offer Gas Turbines to Tokyo Electric Power



General Electric (GE) will offer gas turbines to Tokyo Electric Power Co. to ease energy shortages in the Japanese capital and surrounding area, Chief Executive Office Jeffrey Immelt told reporters in Tokyo after meeting with Japanese Trade Minister Banri Kaieda, Bloomberg reports.

Honda Motor, Mazda Will Resume Limited Production At Japanese Factories In April

Honda Motor, Mazda Will Resume Limited Production At Japanese Factories In April



Honda (NYSE:HMC) and Mazda said they will resume limited production at several Japanese factories in April, but full production will depend on the availability of parts, which is another sign that the Japanese auto industry is starting to come back from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Industry analysts say it could take until summer before factories are back at full output.

Japan is the second-largest supplier of cars in the world, and is also a major parts producer. The impact of the earthquake is already causing production cuts in other countries, including the U.S. Few plants were seriously damaged in Japan but water and electricity supplies have been hampered.

Iraq, Shell Resolve Last Obstacle to $12B Gas Deal -Official

Iraq, Shell Resolve Last Obstacle to $12B Gas Deal -Official

Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Dow Jones Newswires

by  Hassan Hafidh

 

The Iraqi Oil Ministry and Shell have removed the last obstacle preventing them from signing a long-awaited $12 billion joint-venture deal, a senior Iraqi oil official said Tuesday.

The main dispute was over the rights of export. Shell, along with its partner Japan's Mitsubishi, wanted to handle exports, while under current Iraqi hydrocarbon laws the Iraqi State Oil Marketing Organization should do so.

"The issue is nearly resolved," Ali H. Khudhier, head of the state-run South Gas Company told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview in his office in Zubair, south of Basra.

"Shell wanted to handle exports, but now it is agreed that SOMO would handle export," he said. Shell, however, has asked for further discussions as it needs to install an export mechanism, he said.

Last week, the energy committee at the Iraqi council of ministers asked the Oil Ministry to review the Shell draft deal which aims to capture and exploit millions of cubic feet a day of gas flared from four super-giant oil fields near Basra.

The gas project is crucial to Baghdad's ambitious oil expansion that will also boost much-needed power generation in Iraq.

"Once the energy committee approves the recent changes, we need to sit with Shell to adjust these changes in the draft contract," Khudhier said. He preferred not to give a specific date for signing the deal, but he said it could happen in a matter of weeks.

The joint venture--Basrah Gas Co, or BGC--will process associated gas produced from three supergiant Iraqi fields--Rumaila, West Qurna 1 and Zubair--all located in Basra. The three fields are being developed by international oil companies.

"We are expecting these three fields to produce up to 3 billion cubic feet a day in the coming six to seven years," Khudhier said.

In total, the three fields are currently producing some 1.05 billion cubic feet a day, but only 450 million cubic feet a day are utilized while the rest is flared, he said.

The project is vital to Shell's strategy of positioning itself as a leading gas supplier and producer in the Middle East. After domestic needs are met, an LNG terminal will be built in the Gulf to handle the export of 600 million cubic feet a day.

"The extra gas will be exported to East Asia and Gulf states including Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates," Khudhier said.
He also said Iraq could revive a disused pipeline to export gas to Kuwait. "If the Kuwaitis want to import gas from us, we are ready to supply them," he said. Iraq used to export an average of 200 million cubic feet a day gas to neighboring Kuwait, but sales were suspended when Iraq invaded its neighbor in 1990.

Iraq is home to 126 trillion cubic feet of gas, but produces only around 1.5 billion cubic feet a day--of which 700 million cubic feet a day are burned for lack of infrastructure.

Shell and Showa Shell Sekiyu supporting relief efforts in Japan

Shell and Showa Shell Sekiyu supporting relief efforts in Japan

Tuesday, 22 March 2011 16:30 Ordons.com

Tokyo. Showa Shell Sekiyu K.K. and Shell said today they would make a combined donation of US $2 million to the Japanese Red Cross Society to provide disaster relief assistance in response to the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The Shell Group, in addition to this, has implemented a worldwide employee donation program to further support Japan's disaster relief efforts.

Shell's Country Chairman for Japan, Chris Gunner, said "Our hearts are heavy as we reflect on the thousands of lives lost and the enormous damage due to the earthquakes and the tsunami. Shell has been part of the Japanese community for more than 100 years. Financial support will not dull the pain of this tragedy, but it is important in helping to rebuild lives."

"Given the scale of this catastrophe and resulting human suffering, we want to do our part to assist with the relief and reconstruction efforts," said Shigeya Kato, Chairman of Showa Shell Sekiyu K.K.
All Showa Shell Sekiyu and Shell employees in Japan are safely accounted for and Showa Shell's refineries, marketing and distribution businesses are operational, apart from numerous retail service stations and a small number depots which were impacted in the Tohoku area. However, as a result of the earthquake and tsunami, and the nuclear power plant issues, Japan has suffered significant power generation loss, and refinery and depot shutdowns.

The shutdown of power plants in Japan and rolling power blackouts in the northern half of the main island, including around Tokyo, has seen an increase demand for imports of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and other fuels. Shell and its LNG joint ventures are working with their Japanese customers to help ensure continuing and additional supplies of LNG into the country to meet these critical requirements. Since the time of the earthquake, six shipments of LNG from Brunei, two from Sakhalin and one diverted cargo from Nigeria have unloaded in Tokyo Bay, as well as cargoes to other locations in Japan, providing much needed gas supply. Further cargoes are expected to follow in the coming days.

In addition to the financial donation, Showa Shell Sekiyu has an emergency task force working with the Japanese government in prioritizing supply of petroleum products to the affected areas and maintaining the energy supply 'lifeline'. Its actions include:

In addition to the financial donation, Showa Shell Sekiyu has an emergency task force working with the Japanese government in prioritizing supply of petroleum products to the affected areas and maintaining the energy supply 'lifeline'. Its actions include:

* Terminating the export of refined petroleum products, including gasoline and diesel, this month to strengthen supply to the domestic market;

* Working around the clock to supply petroleum products to its service stations, and supplying other petroleum companies and government agencies in response to their requests;

* Expanding its distribution capabilities in Tokyo by strengthening the deployment of lorries;

* Providing food relief to the disaster area.

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[Oil and Gas Post] - Gasoline Shipping Profit Seen Rising 24% After Earthquake: Freight Markets

Gasoline Shipping Profit Seen Rising 24% After Earthquake: Freight Markets

By Alaric Nightingale and Ann Koh - Mar 22, 2011 4:28 PM GMT+0700

Profit from shipping gasoline to the U.S. from Europe in the second quarter will rise 24 percent as disruptions to Japanese imports divert cargoes across the Atlantic, increasing demand for vessels.

Forward freight agreements, traded by brokers and used to hedge or bet on future transport rates, will rise to $14,000 a day on the route, from $11,252 yesterday, said Erik Nikolai Stavseth, an analyst at Arctic Securities ASA in Oslo. His recommendations on stocks of shipping lines returned 24 percent in the past six months, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

The March 11 earthquake and tsunami that battered Japan closed petrochemical plants that buy European naphtha, an oil product than can be converted into gasoline or used to make plastics. European refiners will need to find alternative markets while those plants remain shut, increasing demand and profit for vessels in the Atlantic Ocean at a time when earnings in most shipping markets are slumping.

“It’s highly likely that a surplus of gasoline or naphtha or both will develop in Europe,” Harry Tchilinguirian, the head of commodity markets strategy at BNP Paribas SA in London, said by e-mail March 18. “Refiners will want to export as much of that as possible to the U.S. to support domestic margins.”

Japanese petrochemical plants use naphtha to make ethylene, a material for plastics, and about 22 percent of capacity was curbed by the March 11 disaster, according to Purvin & Gertz Inc., an energy consultant based in Houston. Japan is the second-biggest ethylene producer in Asia after China, data compiled by Bloomberg show. European naphtha shipments to Asia will probably slump by 78 percent to 100,000 metric tons this month, a Bloomberg survey of five traders showed.

Energy Consultant

“The outlook for naphtha is very bearish as six petchem plants are offline and much of the manufacturing activity at Sony, Toyota, Toshiba, etc., has been halted,” Richard Gorry, a director at Vienna-based JBC Energy GmbH, a consultant and researcher, said by phone March 18.

For European refineries, that means a glut of naphtha and one way of dealing with the surplus is to blend it into gasoline and then ship it to the U.S., the largest fuel market, according to Tchilinguirian.

Gasoline at New York Harbor cost as much as 6 percent more than in Europe yesterday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The spread is wide enough to allow traders to ship the fuel profitably across the Atlantic Ocean, according to RS Platou Markets AS and Pareto Securities AS, both Norwegian investment banks.

More Cargoes

More cargoes means more demand for the 590-foot tankers used on the route, operated by companies including Copenhagen- based Torm A/S, Europe’s biggest publicly traded oil-products shipping line. Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd., based in Tokyo, and A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S, headquartered in Copenhagen, also own the vessels, known as medium-range tankers.

Traders of freight forwards are already anticipating the surge in demand in the Atlantic, with second-quarter contracts jumping 8.8 percent on March 18, according to Imarex ASA, an Oslo-based broker of the derivatives.

Rental income on the route jumped 79 percent this year as demand strengthened, according to the Baltic Exchange in London, which publishes rates for more than 50 maritime routes. That beat the 6.6 percent advance in the Baltic Clean Tanker Index, a gauge of six different routes. Returns in the spot, or single voyage, market rose 1.1 percent to $14,607 a day yesterday, Baltic Exchange data show.

Volatile Rates

Rates are volatile, moving 10 percent or more in all but six of the last 31 months. They doubled in four of those months.
The improving returns on medium-range tankers contrasts with a decline for other parts of the merchant fleet. Income on capesizes, used to haul coal and iron ore, slumped 54 percent this year while returns for supertankers carrying crude fell 18 percent, Baltic Exchange data show. Container shipping costs climbed 26 percent, according to a gauge from the Hamburg Shipbrokers’ Association.
Naphtha and gasoline are part of the so-called light-end products derived from crude, accounting for about 35 percent of the total depending on the type of crude and the refinery used to process it, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Refineries produce naphtha when they process crude oil. This in turn is split into heavy and light naphtha. While the light variety is more commonly used by the petrochemicals industry, it can be blended into gasoline, said Mike Lazer, vice president of KBC Market Services, an adviser to the energy industry based in Walton-on-Thames, England. Heavy naphtha can be made into gasoline with the addition of high octane components that make it more combustible, he said.

Premium Demanded

As refineries and factories in Japan shut down this month, the premium demanded for naphtha in Asia relative to Europe fell to $13.97 a barrel so far this month from $15.21 last month, according to data from PVM Oil Associates Ltd., a London-based broker. The premium allows traders in Europe to pay for shipping costs and profit from sending cargoes to Asian customers.
European refiners are losing about $8 for each barrel of naphtha they make and earn about $5 for every barrel of gasoline, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
More gasoline cargoes to the U.S. may mean more business for Torm, a company founded in 1889 that now operates a fleet of about 130 product tankers of various sizes, carrying everything from jet fuel to diesel. The shares slumped 21 percent this year and the company said March 10 it would probably report a third consecutive annual loss in 2011. Just three of the 12 analysts covering the company and tracked by Bloomberg rate it a “buy.”

Head of Tankers

Tina Revsbech, head of tankers at Torm, said it was too soon to say whether transatlantic cargoes would increase as a result of the events in Japan.
Global shipments of oil products, including naphtha, will advance 3 percent this year, according to data from Clarkson Research Services Ltd., part of the world’s largest shipbroker. The fleet will expand 9 percent to 114.9 million deadweight tons, a measure of carrying capacity, Clarkson estimates.
The prospects for earnings on at least one route may be better than that ratio suggests.
“The product tanker market is expected to move higher in the wake of the Japanese earthquake,” said Stavseth of Arctic Securities. “When Japan stops importing there’s an excess and it really shifts the trade volumes.”
To contact the reporters on this story: Alaric Nightingale in London at Anightingal1@bloomberg.net; Ann Koh in Singapore at akoh15@bloomberg.net

Link
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[Oil and Gas Post] - Japan’s Coal, Gas Demand to Rise After Quake, New Hope Says

Japan’s Coal, Gas Demand to Rise After Quake, New Hope Says

March 22, 2011, 2:07 AM EDT
By Elisabeth Behrmann

(Updates to add closing share price in fourth paragraph.)

March 22 (Bloomberg) -- Japan’s coal and natural gas demand is likely to rise after the nation’s biggest earthquake this month knocked out nuclear-powered generators, said New Hope Corp., an Australian coal producer.

“I would expect increased requirements to burn coal and gas over the next few years,” Robert Neale, chief executive officer of the Ispwich, Queensland-based company, said today in a phone interview. Coking coal, in particular, would be needed “because you’ll have at least five or more years of reconstruction, which is going to require steel,” he said.

Japan, which depends on imported fuel for most of its needs, is seeking alternatives to nuclear power after the March 11 quake forced the shutdown of 11 reactors. Five years may be needed to rebuild after the disaster, the World Bank said.

New Hope fell 0.2 percent to A$4.89 at the 4:10 p.m. close in Sydney trading. Shares in the company have risen 0.8 percent this year, compared with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index’s 2.2 percent fall.

New Hope reported first-half profit of A$407 million ($409 million), a rise of more than fourfold following the sale of the company’s stake in Arrow Energy Ltd. The company has a cash balance of about A$1.6 billion following the A$238 million acquisition of Northern Energy Ltd., Neale said.

Demand for coal will rise to make up for the lost nuclear capacity because it’s cheaper than oil and gas, and also due to negative public sentiment toward nuclear power, Andrew Harrington, an analyst Patersons Securities Ltd., said in a report. “We believe that the negativity surrounding nuclear energy will see increased demand for fossil fuels including and especially coal.”

Coal producers likely to benefit from increased demand include Gloucester Coal Ltd., New Hope, Whitehaven Coal Ltd. as well as developers Aston Resources Ltd., Cockatoo Coal Ltd. and Riversdale Mining Ltd., said Harrington.

--Editors: Keith Gosman, Andrew Hobbs
To contact the reporter on this story: Elisabeth Behrmann in Sydney at ebehrmann1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew Hobbs at ahobbs4@bloomberg.net

Link
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