India lockdown: Ports declare force majeure, ship operations go awry

摘要

India's three-week nationwide lockdown to contain the deadly coronavirus pandemic will delay both imports and exports of commodities such as crude, coal, iron ore, vegetable oils and refined energy products as several ports have declared force majeure, while shipping operations across its sprawling coastline are going awry, according to a report by S&P Global Platts. India was amid a two-week quarantine on all ships when the lockdown was imposed, and it comes at a time when the country was stepping up import of cheaper crude oil, whose prices are at multi-year lows, as well as coal and vegetable oil, in addition to exports of gasoil and jet fuel. Front month ICE Brent futures was down 25 cents/b at $27.51/b at 0830 GMT in Asia on Wednesday.