#Chelsea Hogue

[marcogiovenale]

the 20th anniversary issue of 'sleepingfish' is now on line

This 20th anniversary issue features work by Steven Alvarez, Rosaire Appel, Ali Aktan Aşkın, Nat Baldwin, Niles Baldwin, Maeve Barry, Chiara Barzini, Mark Baumer, Emilio Carrero, Kim Chinquee, David-Baptiste Chirot, Bobby Crace, Anna DeForest, Federico Federici, Noah Eli Gordon, Mariangela Guatteri, John Haskell, Chelsea Hogue, Tim Horvath, Zebulon House (or Horse), Meiko Ko, Kelly Krumrie, Mary…

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

“MAINE runs on tourists. In the basement of The Showroom, which is approximately 11 miles from the prison in Warren, I’m surrounded by rows of shelved inventory: toy boats with a gleam, a gumball machine shaped like a shocked clown, boxes of lobster trap keychains painted neon pink. The state’s motto, “Vacationland,” is written on picture frames. “The earnestness of the work shines through and the prices can’t be beat,” Travel + Leisure magazine wrote about The Showroom in a January 2015 guide to vacationing in Maine. On what the vacationer should purchase, they decide that the ultimate souvenir is a T-shirt that reads: Stolen from the Maine State Prison. On Yelp, a customer from The Showroom named Alison rates the place five out of five stars. Other customers seem to agree: the prices are great. Vacationers want to find prices lower than anywhere else; they want a bargain that’s also a little taste of Maine. And it’s a program, they’re told, that “wants to put people back to work.” Americans want to vacation, but most of all they want to pretend to consume benevolently.Although I was told that the day-to-day work for MDOC Industries is determined by The Showroom’s needs, almost every prisoner I visit in the woodshop during April and November 2016 worked on a project commissioned by the state, city, county, or a private business or individual. One customer sent in photographs of their boat to have the prisoners make models; they would be given away as gifts. A stack of large signs to be hung in a public park were being sanded and finished. Buoy-shaped trophies were drying after being primed. In a few weeks, they would be bestowed upon winners at a race. Maine Governor Paul LePage’s desk was being turned over for its second re-finishing. In the bottom of its drawer, all of the governors before him had left their signatures in pen and Sharpie. On a few occasions I was told that The Showroom brings in around one million annually—a common figure often quoted in local papers—but that isn’t accurate. For the fiscal year of 2015, The Showroom generated $2,015,178, which is $24,569 more than 2014 profits, which were $78,345 more than 2013 profits. Many of the salaries for staff working within MDOC Industries come directly from The Showroom’s profits. And yet, because of low wages and the nature of the work, the prison often sees reductions to its official staff, which means there are many days and weeks when the shop is closed or significantly fewer prisoners are put to work.” - Chelsea Hogue, “Hidden Costs,” The New Inquiry. August 28, 2017.

[nuclearblastuk]

CARNIFEX // RELEASE MUSIC VIDEO FOR 'VISIONS OF THE END'

Today, San Diego, California-based metal outfit CARNIFEX have released the music video for 'Visions Of The End' right in time for the Halloween season. The macabre video directed by Muted Widows with Ryan Hogue as director of photography can be seen here:

Scott Ian Lewis comments, "We've been playing 'Visions Of The End' all summer and it was time to call in our friends at Muted Widows to bring the song to life visually. The song is sick and twisted and so is the video. Put it on replay!" Order 'World War X' here: http://www.nuclearblast.com/carnifex-wwx More on 'World War X': 'No Light Shall Save Us' [feat. Alissa White-Gluz] OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO: www.youtube.com/watch?v=84Ru-BnBL74 'World War X' OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO: www.youtube.com/watch?v=oR80ykt32SE Trailer #1 - About 'No Light Shall Save Us' [feat. Alissa White-Gluz]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9H4kCxOhLZ4 Trailer #2 - Writing And Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjOSCfxxwUE Trailer #3 - Album Title + Theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rC3f-84EDhk Trailer #4 - About The Title Track 'World War X': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B6ENNcHLrg Trailer #5 - About Album Artwork: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCfxBtRE_YE Trailer #6 - What's In My Bag (Nuclear Blast Edition) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmH3E1n4xFU 'World War X' was produced by CARNIFEX and Jason Suecof (DEATH ANGEL, CHELSEA GRIN, JOB FOR A COWBOY). The album was recorded and mixed by Jason at AudioHammer Studio in Sanford, Florida. Vocals for the album were tracked by Mick Kenney (ANAAL NATHRAKH, BLEEDING THROUGH) at The Barracks Studio in Huntington Beach, CA. The album artwork was created by Blake Armstrong. 'World War X' Track Listing:

1. World War X

2. Visions Of The End

3. This Infernal Darkness

4. Eyes Of The Executioner

5. No Light Shall Save Us featuring Alissa White-Gluz

6. All Roads Lead To Hell featuring Angel Vivaldi

7. Brushed By The Wings Of Demons

8. Hail Hellfire

9. By Shadows Thine Held

CARNIFEX live: 06.12. CO Bogotá - Knotfest Colombia 'Human Target' - EU/UK Tour 2020 w/ THY ART IS MURDER, FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY, I AM 25.01. B Antwerp - Kavka Zappa 26.01. UK Manchester - Academy 2 27.01. UK Glasgow - The Garage 28.01. UK Leeds - Stylus 29.01. UK Bristol - SWX 30.01. UK London - Electric Brixton 31.01. UK Birmingham - O2 Institute 01.02. NL Tilburg - 013 02.02. F Paris - Cabaret Sauvage 04.02. E Madrid - Sala Mon Live 05.02. E Barcelona - Razzmatazz 06.02. F Lyon - Le Transbordeur 07.02. CH Pratteln - Z7 08.02. D Munich - Backstage 09.02. I Segrate (MI) - Circolo Magnolia 10.02. SLO Ljubljana - Kino Šiška 11.02. A Vienna - Szene 12.02. H Budapest - Barba Negra 13.02. CZ Prague - MeetFactory 14.02. PL Warsaw - Proxima 15.02. D Berlin - Festsaal Kreuzberg 16.02. DK Copenhagen - Amager Bio 17.02. S Gothenburg - Trädgår'n 18.02. S Stockholm - Slaktkyrkan 20.02. D Hamburg - Gruenspan 21.02. D Leipzig - Felsenkeller 22.02. D Oberhausen - Turbinenhalle 23.02. D Wiesbaden - Schlachthof CARNIFEX is: Scott Ian Lewis | vocals Shawn Cameron | drums Jordan Lockrey | lead guitar Cory Arford | guitar Fred Calderon | bass

https://www.facebook.com/carnifexmetal https://www.instagram.com/carnifex https://twitter.com/carnifex https://www.youtube.com/officialcarnifex https://www.nuclearblast.de/carnifex

[navigatethestream]

Those on the outside—even without a connection to the inside—are aware on some level that mandatory labor has long been part of the prison sentence. Season three of Orange is the New Black features incarcerated women sewing panties for a lingerie company called Whispers, a thinly-veiled stand-in for Victoria’s Secret, at 45 cents an hour. This isn’t fiction and this practice isn’t an anomaly. There are 37 states which have legalized the contracting of prison labor by private corporations. Microsoft, Starbucks, Nike, Revlon, and Boeing, to name a few, have all used prison labor; however, municipal and state governments have the longest history of making work for prisoners compulsory, or hiring them for extremely low wages. The Newgate Prison, built in New York City in 1797, paid off most of its expenses during the first five years by forcing its inmates to work. The Thirteenth Amendment to the US Constitution, which outlawed slavery and involuntary servitude, kept slavery legal for the punishment of a crime. From the end of the Civil War until the early part of the 20th century, prison labor was mostly unregulated and prisoners were leased to work in factories or in fields, replacing the abolished system of plantation slavery with a legal form of prison-farm slavery. Labor unions pushed to pass legislation to curtail some of these carceral-slavery practices in the 1880s, but penitentiaries used semantics to dodge new barriers. The labor programs remained the same but were reclassified as “industrial training schools.” These programs were sold to the public as socialization programs: work as therapy. The Maine Department of Corrections (MDOC) Industries woodshop at the Maine State Prison is not alone in rebranding carceral slavery as ameliorative. Across the state of California, incarcerated people fight fires for two dollars a day. In Boston, they clear snow off train tracks at 20 cents per hour, where union workers would be paid a negotiated $30 to work the long, grueling hours in below-freezing temperatures. This practice is particularly prevalent in private prisons, where corporate stockholders—who make money off of prisoners’ work—have lobbied for longer sentences, where prisoners can receive as little as 17 cents per hour for factory labor and facilities aren’t subject to the same rules of disclosure as a federal institution or publicly held company. We are likely accustomed to hearing about prison labor as a means for corporate financial gain or as a system that forces prisoners to pay for their own confinement. But what happens when the work is disguised as creative catharsis, the method by which the incarcerated will be rehabilitated, the key to recovery? THE MDOC has one of the longest-running woodshops within a prison, operated almost entirely by the incarcerated. According to the MDOC’s website, their goal is “to provide quality products to the public and other agencies while, very importantly, keeping as many prisoners as busy as possible.” Browsing products on the internet, I mostly find kitchen tools and Adirondack chairs, but there are also paintings and other objects that exceed classification. A wooden sculpture sits in the front window of the The Showroom: a life-size Poseidon sits on a motorcycle, holding a trident in his right hand and gripping the handlebars with his left, while a mermaid with long, loose hair sits side-saddle on the shiny, lacquered bike behind him.

Hidden Costs: When Prison Labor Gets Upsold as Artisanal Kitsch by Chelsea Hogue

[cleopatrarps]

Asia oil bill to top $1 trillion a year as crude hits $80

SINGAPORE/MUMBAI/MANILA (Reuters) – The cost of Asia’s growing thirst for oil will surpass $1 trillion this year, about twice as much as in 2015 and 2016, as oil prices touch $80 per barrel and continental demand hits a record.

FILE PHOTO: Motorists drives past an electronic board at a gas station in Paranaque city, Metro Manila, the Philippines February 4, 2016. REUTERS/Erik De Castro/File Photo

Oil prices have risen nearly 20 percent since January and topped $80 per barrel in intraday trading on Thursday LCOc1 for the first time since 2014. [O/R]

With the U.S. dollar .DXY – in which most oil is traded – strengthening, concerns are rising about the size of the hit to economies from higher energy prices, especially in import-reliant Asia. Surging costs could feed inflation and hurt both consumers and companies.

“Asia is most vulnerable to an oil price spike,” Canadian investment bank RBC Capital Markets warned in a note this month, after oil prices hit their highest since November 2014.

Asia-Pacific consumes more than 35 percent of the 100 million barrels of oil the world uses each day, according to industry data, and its share is steadily rising.

Asia is also the world’s smallest oil-producing region, accounting for less than 10 percent of output.

(Graphic: reut.rs/2wLchCf)

INFLATION, RISING COSTS

U.S. bank Morgan Stanley said this week that diesel use contributes 10-20 percent to cash costs for miners, while oil contributes from 4 percent to 50 percent to the cost of power generation, depending on a company’s or country’s fuel mix.

FILE PHOTO: A worker fills a car with diesel at a fuel station in Jammu August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mukesh Gupta/File Photo

“A rising oil price therefore shifts the entire cost curve higher,” it said.

China is by far Asia’s – and the world’s – biggest importer of oil, ordering 9.6 million barrels per day in April. That’s almost 10 percent of global consumption.

At current prices, this amounts to a Chinese oil import bill of $768 million per day, $23 billion per month – a whopping $280 billion a year.

Other Asian countries are even more exposed to rising oil prices. Most damage will be done to countries like India and Vietnam, which not only rely heavily on imports, but also where national wealth is not yet large enough to absorb sudden increases in fuel costs.

“Poorer countries with limited borrowing capacity may face financing difficulty amid higher import bills,” RBC said.

Unless fuel is heavily subsidized, households and businesses in poorer countries are also more vulnerable to rising oil prices than they are in wealthier nations.

In developing economies such as India, Vietnam or the Philippines, fuel costs eat up around 8-9 percent of an average person’s salary, according to Reuters research and figures from statistics portal Numbeo. That compares to just 1-2 percent in wealthy countries such as Japan or Australia. (Graphic: reut.rs/2wLchCf)

DIESEL & LOGISTICS

The surge in oil prices has a particularly big impact on transport and logistics companies. One such firm in Asia is courier LBC Express Holdings (LBC.PS) in the Philippines.

“LBC has been intently watching the movement of crude oil prices … What we, at LBC, are preparing for are the effects an oil price increase may have on our carriers: airlines, shipping lines, trucking companies,” its Chief Financial Officer Enrique V. Rey Jr said.

The high oil price “challenges us to improve our own efficiencies to achieve better economies of scale and maintain our margins,” he said.

Some firms say they will pass on any higher costs to consumers.

Chryss Alfonsus Damuy, president and chief executive at Philippine firm Chelsea Logistics (CLC.PS), said his firm could be affected by higher oil prices, but “we can pass on the effect to consumer via price adjustments.”

Others said if they burden consumers with higher costs, they will lose clients.

Ashish Savla, owner of 50-truck strong Pravin Roadways in Mumbai, India, said diesel accounts for more than half of his company’s expenses, and that it was difficult to pass rising expenses on to customers.

“Diesel prices have jumped 16 percent in a year, but I couldn’t raise freight charges by 5 percent. If I charge more, clients will use cheaper railroads,” Savla said.

Anil Mittal, who runs a container logistics company and is a member of Bombay Goods Transport Association, said his firm was “already operating at wafer-thin margins” before prices rose.

The “diesel price hike has hit our business hard,” he said. Many small transport firms like his “are struggling to pay back bank loans they took to buy trucks.”

Given the economic costs and its reliance on imports, economists say it is time for Asia to limit its exposure to oil.

“It is very important for Asia to reduce its oil dependency and increase its energy efficiency … to protect itself from future oil shocks,” RBC Capital Markets said.

Reporting by Henning Gloystein in SINGAPORE, Rajendra Jadhav in MUMBAI and Jerome Morales in MANLIA; Writing by Henning Gloystein; Editing by Tom Hogue

The post Asia oil bill to top $1 trillion a year as crude hits $80 appeared first on World The News.

from World The News https://ift.tt/2Incy3s via News of World

[dani-qrt]

Asia oil bill to top $1 trillion a year as crude hits $80

SINGAPORE/MUMBAI/MANILA (Reuters) – The cost of Asia’s growing thirst for oil will surpass $1 trillion this year, about twice as much as in 2015 and 2016, as oil prices touch $80 per barrel and continental demand hits a record.

FILE PHOTO: Motorists drives past an electronic board at a gas station in Paranaque city, Metro Manila, the Philippines February 4, 2016. REUTERS/Erik De Castro/File Photo

Oil prices have risen nearly 20 percent since January and topped $80 per barrel in intraday trading on Thursday LCOc1 for the first time since 2014. [O/R]

With the U.S. dollar .DXY – in which most oil is traded – strengthening, concerns are rising about the size of the hit to economies from higher energy prices, especially in import-reliant Asia. Surging costs could feed inflation and hurt both consumers and companies.

“Asia is most vulnerable to an oil price spike,” Canadian investment bank RBC Capital Markets warned in a note this month, after oil prices hit their highest since November 2014.

Asia-Pacific consumes more than 35 percent of the 100 million barrels of oil the world uses each day, according to industry data, and its share is steadily rising.

Asia is also the world’s smallest oil-producing region, accounting for less than 10 percent of output.

(Graphic: reut.rs/2wLchCf)

INFLATION, RISING COSTS

U.S. bank Morgan Stanley said this week that diesel use contributes 10-20 percent to cash costs for miners, while oil contributes from 4 percent to 50 percent to the cost of power generation, depending on a company’s or country’s fuel mix.

FILE PHOTO: A worker fills a car with diesel at a fuel station in Jammu August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mukesh Gupta/File Photo

“A rising oil price therefore shifts the entire cost curve higher,” it said.

China is by far Asia’s – and the world’s – biggest importer of oil, ordering 9.6 million barrels per day in April. That’s almost 10 percent of global consumption.

At current prices, this amounts to a Chinese oil import bill of $768 million per day, $23 billion per month – a whopping $280 billion a year.

Other Asian countries are even more exposed to rising oil prices. Most damage will be done to countries like India and Vietnam, which not only rely heavily on imports, but also where national wealth is not yet large enough to absorb sudden increases in fuel costs.

“Poorer countries with limited borrowing capacity may face financing difficulty amid higher import bills,” RBC said.

Unless fuel is heavily subsidized, households and businesses in poorer countries are also more vulnerable to rising oil prices than they are in wealthier nations.

In developing economies such as India, Vietnam or the Philippines, fuel costs eat up around 8-9 percent of an average person’s salary, according to Reuters research and figures from statistics portal Numbeo. That compares to just 1-2 percent in wealthy countries such as Japan or Australia. (Graphic: reut.rs/2wLchCf)

DIESEL & LOGISTICS

The surge in oil prices has a particularly big impact on transport and logistics companies. One such firm in Asia is courier LBC Express Holdings (LBC.PS) in the Philippines.

“LBC has been intently watching the movement of crude oil prices … What we, at LBC, are preparing for are the effects an oil price increase may have on our carriers: airlines, shipping lines, trucking companies,” its Chief Financial Officer Enrique V. Rey Jr said.

The high oil price “challenges us to improve our own efficiencies to achieve better economies of scale and maintain our margins,” he said.

Some firms say they will pass on any higher costs to consumers.

Chryss Alfonsus Damuy, president and chief executive at Philippine firm Chelsea Logistics (CLC.PS), said his firm could be affected by higher oil prices, but “we can pass on the effect to consumer via price adjustments.”

Others said if they burden consumers with higher costs, they will lose clients.

Ashish Savla, owner of 50-truck strong Pravin Roadways in Mumbai, India, said diesel accounts for more than half of his company’s expenses, and that it was difficult to pass rising expenses on to customers.

“Diesel prices have jumped 16 percent in a year, but I couldn’t raise freight charges by 5 percent. If I charge more, clients will use cheaper railroads,” Savla said.

Anil Mittal, who runs a container logistics company and is a member of Bombay Goods Transport Association, said his firm was “already operating at wafer-thin margins” before prices rose.

The “diesel price hike has hit our business hard,” he said. Many small transport firms like his “are struggling to pay back bank loans they took to buy trucks.”

Given the economic costs and its reliance on imports, economists say it is time for Asia to limit its exposure to oil.

“It is very important for Asia to reduce its oil dependency and increase its energy efficiency … to protect itself from future oil shocks,” RBC Capital Markets said.

Reporting by Henning Gloystein in SINGAPORE, Rajendra Jadhav in MUMBAI and Jerome Morales in MANLIA; Writing by Henning Gloystein; Editing by Tom Hogue

The post Asia oil bill to top $1 trillion a year as crude hits $80 appeared first on World The News.

from World The News https://ift.tt/2Incy3s via Online News

[newestbalance]

Asia oil bill to top $1 trillion a year as crude hits $80

SINGAPORE/MUMBAI/MANILA (Reuters) – The cost of Asia’s growing thirst for oil will surpass $1 trillion this year, about twice as much as in 2015 and 2016, as oil prices touch $80 per barrel and continental demand hits a record.

FILE PHOTO: Motorists drives past an electronic board at a gas station in Paranaque city, Metro Manila, the Philippines February 4, 2016. REUTERS/Erik De Castro/File Photo

Oil prices have risen nearly 20 percent since January and topped $80 per barrel in intraday trading on Thursday LCOc1 for the first time since 2014. [O/R]

With the U.S. dollar .DXY – in which most oil is traded – strengthening, concerns are rising about the size of the hit to economies from higher energy prices, especially in import-reliant Asia. Surging costs could feed inflation and hurt both consumers and companies.

“Asia is most vulnerable to an oil price spike,” Canadian investment bank RBC Capital Markets warned in a note this month, after oil prices hit their highest since November 2014.

Asia-Pacific consumes more than 35 percent of the 100 million barrels of oil the world uses each day, according to industry data, and its share is steadily rising.

Asia is also the world’s smallest oil-producing region, accounting for less than 10 percent of output.

(Graphic: reut.rs/2wLchCf)

INFLATION, RISING COSTS

U.S. bank Morgan Stanley said this week that diesel use contributes 10-20 percent to cash costs for miners, while oil contributes from 4 percent to 50 percent to the cost of power generation, depending on a company’s or country’s fuel mix.

FILE PHOTO: A worker fills a car with diesel at a fuel station in Jammu August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mukesh Gupta/File Photo

“A rising oil price therefore shifts the entire cost curve higher,” it said.

China is by far Asia’s – and the world’s – biggest importer of oil, ordering 9.6 million barrels per day in April. That’s almost 10 percent of global consumption.

At current prices, this amounts to a Chinese oil import bill of $768 million per day, $23 billion per month – a whopping $280 billion a year.

Other Asian countries are even more exposed to rising oil prices. Most damage will be done to countries like India and Vietnam, which not only rely heavily on imports, but also where national wealth is not yet large enough to absorb sudden increases in fuel costs.

“Poorer countries with limited borrowing capacity may face financing difficulty amid higher import bills,” RBC said.

Unless fuel is heavily subsidized, households and businesses in poorer countries are also more vulnerable to rising oil prices than they are in wealthier nations.

In developing economies such as India, Vietnam or the Philippines, fuel costs eat up around 8-9 percent of an average person’s salary, according to Reuters research and figures from statistics portal Numbeo. That compares to just 1-2 percent in wealthy countries such as Japan or Australia. (Graphic: reut.rs/2wLchCf)

DIESEL & LOGISTICS

The surge in oil prices has a particularly big impact on transport and logistics companies. One such firm in Asia is courier LBC Express Holdings (LBC.PS) in the Philippines.

“LBC has been intently watching the movement of crude oil prices … What we, at LBC, are preparing for are the effects an oil price increase may have on our carriers: airlines, shipping lines, trucking companies,” its Chief Financial Officer Enrique V. Rey Jr said.

The high oil price “challenges us to improve our own efficiencies to achieve better economies of scale and maintain our margins,” he said.

Some firms say they will pass on any higher costs to consumers.

Chryss Alfonsus Damuy, president and chief executive at Philippine firm Chelsea Logistics (CLC.PS), said his firm could be affected by higher oil prices, but “we can pass on the effect to consumer via price adjustments.”

Others said if they burden consumers with higher costs, they will lose clients.

Ashish Savla, owner of 50-truck strong Pravin Roadways in Mumbai, India, said diesel accounts for more than half of his company’s expenses, and that it was difficult to pass rising expenses on to customers.

“Diesel prices have jumped 16 percent in a year, but I couldn’t raise freight charges by 5 percent. If I charge more, clients will use cheaper railroads,” Savla said.

Anil Mittal, who runs a container logistics company and is a member of Bombay Goods Transport Association, said his firm was “already operating at wafer-thin margins” before prices rose.

The “diesel price hike has hit our business hard,” he said. Many small transport firms like his “are struggling to pay back bank loans they took to buy trucks.”

Given the economic costs and its reliance on imports, economists say it is time for Asia to limit its exposure to oil.

“It is very important for Asia to reduce its oil dependency and increase its energy efficiency … to protect itself from future oil shocks,” RBC Capital Markets said.

Reporting by Henning Gloystein in SINGAPORE, Rajendra Jadhav in MUMBAI and Jerome Morales in MANLIA; Writing by Henning Gloystein; Editing by Tom Hogue

The post Asia oil bill to top $1 trillion a year as crude hits $80 appeared first on World The News.

from World The News https://ift.tt/2Incy3s via Everyday News

[dragnews]

Asia oil thirst tab $1 trillion a year as crude rises to $80

SINGAPORE/MUMBAI/MANILA (Reuters) – Oil prices are poised to break through $80 per barrel and Asia’s demand is at a record, pushing the cost of the region’s thirst for crude to $1 trillion this year, about twice what it was during the market lull of 2015/2016.

FILE PHOTO: Motorists drives past an electronic board at a gas station in Paranaque city, Metro Manila, the Philippines February 4, 2016. REUTERS/Erik De Castro/File Photo

Oil prices have gained 20 percent since January to just shy of $80 per barrel LCOc1, a level not seen since 2014. [O/R]

With the U.S. dollar .DXY – in which virtually all oil is traded – also growing stronger, concerns are rising that economies will take a hit, especially in import-reliant Asia. Surging costs could have an inflationary effect that will hurt both consumers and companies.

“Asia is most vulnerable to an oil price spike,” Canadian investment bank RBC Capital Markets warned in a note this month, after oil prices hit their highest since November 2014.

Asia-Pacific consumes more than 35 percent of the 100 million barrels of oil the world uses each day, according to industry data, with the region’s global share steadily rising.

Asia is also the world’s smallest oil producing region, accounting for less than 10 percent of output.

(GRAPHIC: reut.rs/2wLchCf)

INFLATION, RISING COSTS

U.S. bank Morgan Stanley said this week that diesel use contributes 10-20 percent to cash costs for miners, while oil contributes from 4 percent to 50 percent to the cost of power generation, depending on a company’s or country’s fuel mix.

“A rising oil price therefore shifts the entire cost curve higher,” it said.

China is by far Asia’s – and the world’s – biggest importer of oil, ordering 9.6 million barrels per day in April. That’s almost 10 percent of global consumption.

FILE PHOTO: A worker fills a car with diesel at a fuel station in Jammu August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mukesh Gupta/File Photo

At current prices, this amounts to a Chinese oil import bill of $768 million per day, $23 billion per month – a whopping $280 billion a year.

Other Asian countries are even more exposed to rising oil prices. Most damage will be done to countries like India and Vietnam, which not only rely heavily on imports, but also where national wealth is not yet large enough to absorb sudden increases in fuel costs.

“Poorer countries with limited borrowing capacity may face financing difficulty amid higher import bills,” RBC said.

Unless fuel is heavily subsidized, households and businesses in poorer countries are also more vulnerable to rising oil prices than they are in wealthier nations.

In developing economies like India, Vietnam or the Philippines, fuel costs eat up around 8-9 percent of an average person’s salary, according to Reuters research and figures from statistics portal Numbeo. That compares to just 1-2 percent in wealthy countries like Japan or Australia.

(GRAPHIC: reut.rs/2wLchCf)

DIESEL & LOGISTICS

The surge in oil prices has a particularly big impact on transport and logistics companies. One such firm in Asia is courier LBC Express Holdings (LBC.PS) in the Philippines.

“LBC has been intently watching the movement of crude oil prices … What we, at LBC, are preparing for are the effects an oil price increase may have on our carriers: airlines, shipping lines, trucking companies,” its Chief Financial Officer Enrique V. Rey Jr said.

The high oil price “challenges us to improve our own efficiencies to achieve better economies of scale and maintain our margins,” he said.

Some firms say they will pass on any higher costs to consumers.

Chryss Alfonsus Damuy, President and Chief Executive at Philippine firm Chelsea Logistics (CLC.PS), said his firm could be affected by higher oil prices, but “we can pass on the effect to consumer via price adjustments.”

Others said if they burden consumers with higher costs, they will lose clients.

Ashish Savla, owner of 50-truck strong Pravin Roadways in Mumbai, India, said diesel accounts for more than half of his company’s expenses, and that it was difficult to pass rising expenses on to customers.

“Diesel prices have jumped 16 percent in a year, but I couldn’t raise freight charges by 5 percent. If I charge more, clients will use cheaper railroads,” Savla said.

Anil Mittal, who runs a container logistics company and is a member of Bombay Goods Transport Association, said his firm was “already operating at wafer-thin margins” before prices rose.

The “diesel price hike has hit our business hard,” he said. Many small transport firms like his “are struggling to pay back bank loans they took to buy trucks.”

Given the economic costs and its reliance on imports, economists say it is time for Asia to limit its exposure to oil.

“It is very important for Asia to reduce its oil dependency and increase its energy efficiency … to protect itself from future oil shocks,” RBC Capital Markets said.

(GRAPHIC: reut.rs/2HJNm2v)

(GRAPHIC: reut.rs/2G465IO)

Reporting by Henning Gloystein in SINGAPORE, Rajendra Jadhav in MUMBAI and Jerome Morales in MANLIA; Writing by Henning Gloystein; Editing by Tom Hogue

The post Asia oil thirst tab $1 trillion a year as crude rises to $80 appeared first on World The News.

from World The News https://ift.tt/2rNf4VN via Today News

[acehotel]

Ace AIR: Chelsea Hogue

Program: AIR Location: Ace Hotel New York Date of Stay: 04.03.06 Artists: Chelsea Hogue

Chelsea came down from MA to spend the night, and while here jammed out a really great collection of thoughts and interviews from around the city, complete with images, entitled Making It. It begins

In the introduction to the 1974 book, Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do, the oral historian and radio broadcaster, Studs Terkel, writes, “Ought not there be an increment, earned though not yet received, from one’s daily work—an acknowledgement of man’s being ?”

View the full work here (PDF).

Chelsea Hogue is a writer and artist based in Western Massachusetts. Her work has appeared in The White Review, Quarterly West, and Autre Mag, among others. She's currently working on a collection of stories based on a box of photos she bought off eBay.

This April, Ace AIR is curated by McSweeney’s —a publishing company based in San Francisco. As well as operating a daily humor website, it publishes Timothy McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern, the Believer, and an ever-growing selection of books under various imprints.

[cleopatrarps]

Asia oil thirst tab $1 trillion a year as crude rises to $80

SINGAPORE/MUMBAI/MANILA (Reuters) – Oil prices are poised to break through $80 per barrel and Asia’s demand is at a record, pushing the cost of the region’s thirst for crude to $1 trillion this year, about twice what it was during the market lull of 2015/2016.

FILE PHOTO: Motorists drives past an electronic board at a gas station in Paranaque city, Metro Manila, the Philippines February 4, 2016. REUTERS/Erik De Castro/File Photo

Oil prices have gained 20 percent since January to just shy of $80 per barrel LCOc1, a level not seen since 2014. [O/R]

With the U.S. dollar .DXY – in which virtually all oil is traded – also growing stronger, concerns are rising that economies will take a hit, especially in import-reliant Asia. Surging costs could have an inflationary effect that will hurt both consumers and companies.

“Asia is most vulnerable to an oil price spike,” Canadian investment bank RBC Capital Markets warned in a note this month, after oil prices hit their highest since November 2014.

Asia-Pacific consumes more than 35 percent of the 100 million barrels of oil the world uses each day, according to industry data, with the region’s global share steadily rising.

Asia is also the world’s smallest oil producing region, accounting for less than 10 percent of output.

(GRAPHIC: reut.rs/2wLchCf)

INFLATION, RISING COSTS

U.S. bank Morgan Stanley said this week that diesel use contributes 10-20 percent to cash costs for miners, while oil contributes from 4 percent to 50 percent to the cost of power generation, depending on a company’s or country’s fuel mix.

“A rising oil price therefore shifts the entire cost curve higher,” it said.

China is by far Asia’s – and the world’s – biggest importer of oil, ordering 9.6 million barrels per day in April. That’s almost 10 percent of global consumption.

FILE PHOTO: A worker fills a car with diesel at a fuel station in Jammu August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mukesh Gupta/File Photo

At current prices, this amounts to a Chinese oil import bill of $768 million per day, $23 billion per month – a whopping $280 billion a year.

Other Asian countries are even more exposed to rising oil prices. Most damage will be done to countries like India and Vietnam, which not only rely heavily on imports, but also where national wealth is not yet large enough to absorb sudden increases in fuel costs.

“Poorer countries with limited borrowing capacity may face financing difficulty amid higher import bills,” RBC said.

Unless fuel is heavily subsidized, households and businesses in poorer countries are also more vulnerable to rising oil prices than they are in wealthier nations.

In developing economies like India, Vietnam or the Philippines, fuel costs eat up around 8-9 percent of an average person’s salary, according to Reuters research and figures from statistics portal Numbeo. That compares to just 1-2 percent in wealthy countries like Japan or Australia.

(GRAPHIC: reut.rs/2wLchCf)

DIESEL & LOGISTICS

The surge in oil prices has a particularly big impact on transport and logistics companies. One such firm in Asia is courier LBC Express Holdings (LBC.PS) in the Philippines.

“LBC has been intently watching the movement of crude oil prices … What we, at LBC, are preparing for are the effects an oil price increase may have on our carriers: airlines, shipping lines, trucking companies,” its Chief Financial Officer Enrique V. Rey Jr said.

The high oil price “challenges us to improve our own efficiencies to achieve better economies of scale and maintain our margins,” he said.

Some firms say they will pass on any higher costs to consumers.

Chryss Alfonsus Damuy, President and Chief Executive at Philippine firm Chelsea Logistics (CLC.PS), said his firm could be affected by higher oil prices, but “we can pass on the effect to consumer via price adjustments.”

Others said if they burden consumers with higher costs, they will lose clients.

Ashish Savla, owner of 50-truck strong Pravin Roadways in Mumbai, India, said diesel accounts for more than half of his company’s expenses, and that it was difficult to pass rising expenses on to customers.

“Diesel prices have jumped 16 percent in a year, but I couldn’t raise freight charges by 5 percent. If I charge more, clients will use cheaper railroads,” Savla said.

Anil Mittal, who runs a container logistics company and is a member of Bombay Goods Transport Association, said his firm was “already operating at wafer-thin margins” before prices rose.

The “diesel price hike has hit our business hard,” he said. Many small transport firms like his “are struggling to pay back bank loans they took to buy trucks.”

Given the economic costs and its reliance on imports, economists say it is time for Asia to limit its exposure to oil.

“It is very important for Asia to reduce its oil dependency and increase its energy efficiency … to protect itself from future oil shocks,” RBC Capital Markets said.

(GRAPHIC: reut.rs/2HJNm2v)

(GRAPHIC: reut.rs/2G465IO)

Reporting by Henning Gloystein in SINGAPORE, Rajendra Jadhav in MUMBAI and Jerome Morales in MANLIA; Writing by Henning Gloystein; Editing by Tom Hogue

The post Asia oil thirst tab $1 trillion a year as crude rises to $80 appeared first on World The News.

from World The News https://ift.tt/2rNf4VN via News of World