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SHIPPING

ThyssenKrupp sells shipyards business

German heavy industry giant ThyssenKrupp said on Monday it had agreed to sell its non-military shipbuilding activities Blohm + Voss to British investment fund Star Capital Partners.

Published: 12 December 2011 13:31 CET
ThyssenKrupp sells shipyards business
Photo: DPA

The price was not disclosed, but sources familiar with dossier put it “in the region of €150 million” ($199 million).

ThyssenKrupp, which is active in steel, elevators, submarines and car parts, said it had decided to sell the activities as part of a drive to “optimise” its business portfolios.

The Blohm + Voss group of companies specialises in ship components, ship repair and conversion business, pipe-handling equipment and also the design and manufacture of high-end bespoke mega yachts.

It has annual sales of around €400 million and more than 1,500 employees, mostly in Hamburg.

“The sale is an important step in further focusing the activities of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems. At the same time, the change of owner will help secure jobs and the future of shipbuilding at the various Blohm + Voss sites,” said Hans Christoph Atzpodien, head of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems.

The deal, which is subject to approval by the competition authorities, is expected to be finalised in the first quarter of 2012.

In its own statement, Star Capital said Blohm + Voss was “one of the great brands in the marine industry”.

And its new owner pledged to “commit significant amounts of capital to the business to ensure that it is in a position to take advantage of growth opportunities in the future.”

“We are pleased to have acquired a world class German engineering business, one in which we intend to invest by providing a significant capital commitment to drive growth and job creation,” said Star Capital chief executive Tony Mallin.

AFP/mry

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FARMING

WTO rules US tariffs on Spanish olives breach rules

A US decision to slap steep import duties on Spanish olives over claims they benefited from subsidies constituted a violation of international trade rules, the World Trade Organisation ruled Friday.

Published: 22 November 2021 11:34 CET
WTO rules US tariffs on Spanish olives breach rules
Farmers had just begun harvesting olives in southern Spain when former US President Donald Trump soured the mood with the tariffs' announcement. Photo: Jorge Guerrero/AFP

Former US president Donald Trump’s administration slapped extra tariffs on Spain’s iconic agricultural export in 2018, considering their olives were subsidised and being dumped on the US market at prices below their real value.

The combined rates of the anti-subsidy and anti-dumping duties go as high as 44 percent.

The European Commission, which handles trade policy for the 27 EU states, said the move was unacceptable and turned to the WTO, where a panel of experts was appointed to examine the case.

In Friday’s ruling, the WTO panel agreed with the EU’s argument that the anti-subsidy duties were illegal.

But it did not support its stance that the US anti-dumping duties violated international trade rules.

The panel said it “recommended that the United States bring its measures into conformity with its obligations”.

EU trade commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis hailed the ruling, pointing out that the US duties “severely hit Spanish olive producers.”

Demonstrators take part in a 2019 protest in Madrid, called by the olive sector
Demonstrators take part in a 2019 protest in Madrid called by the olive sector to denounce low prices of olive oil and the 25 percent tariff that Spanish olives and olive oil faced in the United States. (Photo by PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU / AFP)
 

“We now expect the US to take the appropriate steps to implement the WTO ruling, so that exports of ripe olives from Spain to the US can resume under normal conditions,” he said.

The European Commission charges that Spain’s exports of ripe olives to the United States, which previously raked in €67 million ($75.6 million) annually, have shrunk by nearly 60 percent since the duties were imposed.

The office of the US Trade Representative in Washington did not immediately comment on the ruling.

According to WTO rules, the parties have 60 days to file for an appeal.

If the United States does file an appeal though, it would basically amount to a veto of the ruling.

That is because the WTO Appellate Body — also known as the supreme court of world trade — stopped functioning in late 2019 after Washington blocked the appointment of new judges.

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