Hawaii Superferry Sets Sail
08.27.2007

Hawaii's new Superferry

The long awaited Superferry completed its maiden voyage from Honolulu Sunday.

Despite threats from environmental groups to shut down the ferry service, over 500 passengers took the three-hour trip to Maui. Environmentalists site that no impact study was performed, which is required by state law however Superferry officials point out that the ship´s propulsion system has no exposed propellers to strike marine life.

Unless the state court shuts down the Superferry, passengers will pay only 5 dollars until September 5th when the toll will increase to over 240 dollars. The only other transportation alternative for tourists and residents between islands has been local airlines, previous attempts to provide ferry services have failed.

China: Raising Shipping Costs
08.06.2007

Panamax ship in Panama Cannel

Shipping costs for dry bulk commodities like wheat and coal has increased due to strong demand and port congestion. The cost increase is associated with China´s growing economy, which as a result is inflating prices due to higher trade volumes.

World-wide, agriculture costs are growing partly based on the demands China has added to the market, for example, costs for Panamax vessels has increased and other shipping fleets are struggling to adjust as shipyards are focusing production on vessels like tanker ships rather than dry-bulk carriers.

According to the Baltic Exchange, Dry Forward Freight Agreement (FFA) volumes have leaped in the second 2007 quarter; a 32 percent increase from the first quarter. The Baltic Exchange is a maritime organization providing independent shipping and marketing information, the latest FFA results were based on 15 FFA broking companies who reported that 432,809 lots were traded in dry freight which account for nearly a quarter of all trades.

Is Ethanol Fuel Raising Food Prices?
07.12.2007

Corn field

According to the American Coalition for Ethanol, research by economist John Urbanchuk of LEGG, LLC, the increase use of corn as a bio-fuel or ethanol has little impact on the cost of food when compared to rising energy prices.

The study shows that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rises between 0.6 to 0.9 percent as a result of a 33 percent increase in crude oil prices. The equivalent increase in corn prices would only raise the CPI by 0.3 percent which shows that oil prices have a far greater impact on consumer food prices.

Corn is an ingredient in some grocery products but all grocery items depend upon energy production which contributes the most to food costs. According to the USDA, as much as 0.81 cents of every dollar spent on food pays for expenses like transportation, packaging and energy costs.