[chaosbutterfly]

Grain piles up in ports Canada next in inability to finance shipments
http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=866522

The credit crisis is spilling over into the grain industry as international buyers find themselves unable to come up with payment, forcing sellers to shoulder often substantial losses.

Before cargoes can be loaded at port, buyers typically must produce proof they are good for the money. But more deals are falling through as sellers decide they don't trust the financial institution named in the buyer's letter of credit, analysts said.

"There's all kinds of stuff stacked up on docks right now that can't be shipped because people can't get letters of credit," said Bill Gary, president of Commodity Information Systems in Oklahoma City. "The problem is not demand, and it's not supply because we have plenty of supply. It's finding anyone who can come up with the credit to buy."

So far the problem is mostly being felt in U. S. and South American ports, but observers say it is only a matter of time before it hits Canada.

Dry Bulk Bulker rates fall amid trade credit fears
http://www.lloydslist.com/ll/news/bulker-rates-fall-amid-trade-credit-fears/20017580898.htm

“Nothing is moving because the trader doesn’t want to take the risk of putting cargo on the boat and finding that nobody can pay,” he said.

Difficulties securing letters of credit, in which banks guarantee payment for merchandise, could become a “big issue’’ for world trade, Klaus Nyborg, deputy chief executive officer at Pacific Basin also said.

The London-based Grains and Feed Trade Assocation, which represents grain traders worldwide, said problems accessing trade credit had seen isolated cargoes temporarily stranded in Canada and South America.

“Getting members to comment on this issue is very difficult,” a spokeswoman said.

“I just don’t think anybody out there is willing to discuss anything about this financial turmoil.”

GAFTA’s president, Pedro Palomo, did not return calls seeking further comment.

Shipping Lines Say Tight Credit Cutting World Trade
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ahkq91XcsKnY&refer=home

``Letters of credit and the credit lines for trade currently are frozen,'' Khalid Hashim, managing director of Precious Shipping, Thailand's second-largest shipping company, said in Singapore yesterday. ``Nothing is moving because the trader doesn't want to take the risk of putting cargo on the boat and finding that nobody can pay.''

The lack of letters of credit, in which banks guarantee payment for merchandise, could become a ``big issue'' for world trade, according to Klaus Nyborg, Deputy Chief Executive Officer at Pacific Basin. Tighter credit has contributed to this year's 80 percent drop in the Baltic Dry Index, a measure of commodity-shipping costs. About 90 percent of world trade moves by sea.

``This can have a significant effect on demand because you won't see the same volume of cargo moved,'' Harold L. Malone III, senior vice president at Jefferies & Co., said at a Marine Money conference in Singapore. ``You have to figure out other ways to get trade done.''

 

[DownInABunker]

Stock up on the stuff you need that's made overseas. I am thinking not so much food, but spare parts, clothing, tools, batteries, etc.

 

[musicman1977]

Wonder if any of this could lead to more domestic jobs and manufacturing and less outsourcing?

Not trying to steal the topic...just thinking out loud.

 

[Dwind]

good thing my pocky is made in the US now... :

There goes my cheap rifle ammo though....

 

[army61]

:Good maybe the poison food from China won't make here!:thumb:

 

[DownInABunker]

Wonder if any of this could lead to more domestic jobs and manufacturing and less outsourcing?

Not trying to steal the topic...just thinking out loud.

Outsourcing will definitely not be affected since it is done over the internet.

Manufacturing - maybe, but it will take more time and effort to ramp up production here than get the credit issue resolved.

 

[musicman1977]

Outsourcing will definitely not be affected since it is done over the internet.

Manufacturing - maybe, but it will take more time and effort to ramp up production here than get the credit issue resolved.

There goes me and my wishful thinking again. I guess it is my survivalist, self sustaining instinct to hope that the US would be more "self" suffecient, and hope that this would help wake folks up to the importance of domestic manufacturing and production. After all, economically food is viable.

 

[MCLMM]

Time to pay the piper for all those made in china goods.

You know, I a couple of years ago I picked up a cap at a local market. Looked at the tag and saw made in China on it. Nothing unusual about that, but it got me thinking about what I had on me that was made in china or elsewhere.

Here's the list:

Specops T.H.E. Wallet Jr - USA
Milsurp Wellco Goretex ICB Boots - USA
UK mil Issue diver's watch - UK
Socks - China
Drawers - China
Levis - Dominican Republic
Polo shirt - China
t-Shirt - China
Blackhawk Riggers Belt - Viet Nam
CRKT M16-14F folding knife - Taiwan
LED keychain flashlight - china
Cooper A2 jacket - USA

Everything but my wallet, boots and jacket were imported from overseas.

I make at least a half-hearted effort to buy American, but I'm probably in the minority.

What is the sheepulation gonna do when those cheap socks and panties are no longer available? How long will it take for onshore manufacturing to kick in to fill the needs?

And that's pretty much just clothes. It's gonna get ugly.

 

[commoguy]

id say start buying online havent really seen any issues getting things from the internet

 

[preparedmama]

And do you know that legally it can said made in america if the parts are just put together here..or if it is manufactured in a us territory. So it saying made in america doesnt mean it was 100%

 

[z96Cobra]

id say start buying online havent really seen any issues getting things from the internet

Umm... What? Where do you think "things from the internet" come from? It doesn't just magically appear inside a box at a fed-ex warehouse....

 

[BrowserCat]

Here in the Northwest, we used to have good pickles, but now you can pick up a jar and it's made in China. Toothpicks - dang toothpicks are made in China now! And the quality is p1ss-p00r.

If it's made in China, I try not to buy it. They already own a big enough chunk of America.

 

[test]

Funny that this topic should come up. I was on my way home from the hardware store this afternoon and I noticed a vacant lot that used to be the Sears warehouse many years ago, filled with brand new cars. Acres of brand new cars...with weeds growing up all over, pushing up through the concrete. The warehouses have been abandoned for so long, now almost nothing but deteriorating steel buildings are left. The sight of it felt creepy, like one of those B horror movies.