Morning Brief – Shanghai Containerised Freight Index

Shanghai Containerised Freight Index

Instinctively one would expect that freight costs have increased and probably quite a lot since October 7 and the outset of the war in Israel. With Friday’s sharp rise in the SCFI due to the US/UK actions against the Houthis, the Index stands at $3100. That translates as the cost of shipping a 20-foot container has gone up 310% since the start of November. That will feed through into the cost of imports for the West. Stand by for more on the inflation stats looking a whole lot less rosy.

EUR/USD 1.0950.

Polyhalite

This is the wonder mineral rich fertiliser that is set to replace potash as a fertiliser and because it requires very little treatment other than being crushed and milled, is environmentally friendly with a low carbon footprint. It is being mined deep beneath the North Sea with shafts in North Yorkshire leading in the case of the Anglo American site via a 23 Mile long tunnel to the site. The first company Sirius that sold out to Anglo American despite heroic efforts ran out of cash before it was able to turn the polyhalite into revenues.

GBP/USD 1.2750.

Burgundy

For Burgundy buffs eagerly awaiting the end of the en primeur 2022 vintage, there is good news: quite simply the 2022 is the best vintage since 2003. Apparently the grapes adapted to the effects of higher temperatures due to global warming and the all important months of July and August delivered with the right amounts of the climate ingredients that go to make up the magic of Burgundy wines.

EUR/ JPY 158.65.

On Your Bike

The bane of city motorists is the sense of entitlement evident in city cyclists. Men and women in Lycra or otherwise cut up and require motorists to possess 360 degree vision. There are more than 1.2 million bike journeys in London daily, there are more bike journeys than car journeys in the city of London etc etc. So a good time to buy shares in companies that supply bicycles? In short no. Post Lockdown sales soared but since then they have stalled. But… if you are contemplating a new bike, you could expect to get 20% or as much as 40% off the price.

GBP/ EUR 1.1640.

Men at Work

This day 41 years ago in 1983, Aussie band, Men at Work were striking it rich with the number Down Under off their Business as Usual album. All in all an appropriate song choice for a Monday in January 2024:

Traveling in a fried-out Kombi
On a hippie trail, head full of zombie
I met a strange lady, she made me nervous
She took me in and gave me breakfast
And she said

“Do you come from a land down under
Where women glow and men plunder?
Can’t you hear, can’t you hear the thunder?
You better run, you better take cover”

Buying bread from a man in Brussels
He was six-foot-four and full of muscle
I said, “Do you speak-a my language?”
He just smiled and gave me a Vegemite sandwich
And he said

“I come from a land down under
Where beer does flow and men chunder
Can’t you hear, can’t you hear the thunder?
You better run, you better take cover, yeah”

Lying in a den in Bombay
With a slack jaw and not much to say
I said to the man, “Are you trying to tempt me?
Because I come from the land of plenty”
And he said

Oh, “Do you come from a land down under? (Oh, yeah-yeah)
Where women glow and men plunder?
Can’t you hear, can’t you hear the thunder?
You better run, you better take cover”, ’cause we are

Discussion and Analysis by Humphrey Percy, Chairman and Founder

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