When President Bill Clinton signed the North American Free Trade Agreement twenty years ago, many economists feared that most of America�� manufacturing jobs would flee to Mexico where wages were low and labor protections were scarce. But before that process could really get into full swing, those started heading to China, where they ultimately stayed. Despite higher transportation costs from China to key American and European markets, labor costs were so low that shipping was of little concern.
But while China may have become the workshop of the world, the country�� rapid economic expansion has sent wages in the country skyrocketing. Whereas Mexican wages were almost two times higher than China�� a decade ago, now they��e nearly 20 percent lower. As a result, many manufacturers are choosing to relocate their production facilities to Mexico in order to take advantage of lower labor and transportation costs, with easy access to both the North American and Latin American markets.
5 Best Transportation Stocks To Invest In 2015: Oiltanking Partners LP (OILT)
Oiltanking Partners, L.P. (OTLT) is engaged in the terminaling, storage and transportation of crude oil, refined petroleum products and liquefied petroleum gas. Through its wholly owned subsidiaries, Oiltanking Houston, L.P. (OTH) and Oiltanking Beaumont Partners, L.P. (OTB), the Company owns and operates storage and terminaling assets located along the Gulf Coast of the United States on the Houston, Texas Ship Channel and in Beaumont, Texas. Its Houston and Beaumont terminals provides deep-water access and interconnectivity to refineries, chemical and petrochemical companies, carrier and pipelines and production facilities and have international distribution capabilities. Its facilities are directly connected to 18 refineries, storage facilities and production facilities along the Gulf Coast area through pipelines and common carrier pipelines, to end markets along the Gulf Coast and to the Cushing, Oklahoma storage interchange.
Houston Terminal
The Company operates third-party crude oil and refined petroleum products terminals on the Houston Ship Channel. Its facility has an aggregate active storage capacity of approximately 11.7 million barrels and provides integrated terminaling services to a variety of customers, including integrated oil companies, marketers, distributors and chemical companies. The principal products handled at its Houston terminal complex are crude oil, the inputs for chemical production (such as naphtha and condensate), which are referred to as chemical feedstocks, liquefied petroleum gas and clean petroleum products, such as gasoline and distillates, with crude oil accounting for approximately 64% of its active storage capacity.
The Company�� storage and distribution network is integrated with the Houston petrochemical and refining complex. The facility handles products through a number of transportation modes, primarily through pipelines interconnected to local refineries and production facilities, including Houston Refining�� refine! ry in Pasadena, Texas, PRSI�� refinery in Pasadena, Texas, ExxonMobil�� refinery in Baytown, Texas, which is a refinery in the United States. Its Houston terminal also handles products through third-party crude oil, refined petroleum products and liquified petroleum gas tankers and barges arriving at its deep-water docks. Its waterfront capabilities consists of six deep-water ship docks, allowing for the dockage of vessels with up to 130,000 deadweight tons (dwt), of cargo and vessel capacity, and two barge docks, allowing for barges with up to 20,000 dwt of cargo and barge capacity. Its deep-water ship docks can accommodate vessels with up to a 45 foot draft, including Suezmax tankers, which can navigate the Houston Ship Channel. During the year ended December 31, 2011 (during 2011), the Company generated 22% of its Houston terminal revenues from throughput fees charged to non-storage customers.
The Company�� real property at its Houston terminal consists of approximately 327 acres, including 63 acres of nearby parcels that could be connected to its Houston terminal through existing owned rights-of-way. The Company owns approximately 24 acres at the Crossroads Interchange approximately six miles from its Houston terminal.
Beaumont Terminal
The Company�� Beaumont terminal serves as a regional strategic and trading hub for vacuum gas oil and clean petroleum products for refineries located in the upper Gulf Coast region. Its facility has an aggregate active storage capacity of approximately 5.6 million barrels and provides integrated terminaling services to a variety of customers, including integrated oil companies, distributors, marketers and chemical and petrochemical companies. The principal products handled at its Beaumont terminal complex are refined petroleum products, which accounted for approximately 99% of its active storage capacity as of December 31, 2011.
The Company�� storage and distribution network is integrated with the Beaumon! t/Port Ar! thur petrochemical and refining complex, and provides its customers with the additional services of mixing, blending, heating and marine vapor recovery. Its Beaumont facility handles products through a number of transportation modes, primarily through third-party pipelines interconnected to local refineries and production facilities, through its own pipeline system to Huntsman�� chemical production facility in Port Neches, and through third-party crude and refined products tankers and barges arriving at its deep-water docks. Its waterfront capabilities consist of two deep-water ship docks, allowing for the dockage of vessels with up to 130,000 dwt of cargo and vessel capacity and drafts of up to 40 feet, and two barge docks, allowing for barges with up to 20,000 dwt of cargo and barge capacity and drafts of up to 12 feet.
Operations
The Company provides integrated terminaling, storage, pipeline and related services for third-party companies engaged in the production, distribution and marketing of crude oil, refined petroleum products and liquefied petroleum gas. The Company generates its revenues through the provision of fee-based services to its customers. During 2011, it generated approximately 75% of its revenues from fixed monthly fees for storage services, which its customers pay to reserve storage space in its tanks and to compensate the Company for receiving an agreed upon average periodic amount of product volume, or throughput, on their behalf.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Oiltanking Partners LP (NYSE: OILT) were down 7.23 percent to $59.79 after the company priced an offering of 2.6 million common units. - [By Richard Stavros]
The good news is that midstream MLPs are already part of the crude-by-rail story and will likely be part of the growing gas-by-rail story. Indeed, there are numerous names in the MLP space with at least some exposure to the crude-by-rail trend, including�Enterprise Products Partners LP�(NYSE: EPD), Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP�(NYSE: KMP),�Genesis Energy LP�(NYSE: GEL), and�Oiltanking Partners LP�(NYSE: OILT),�among others. Barclays estimates that MLPs have already invested $2 billion in railroad terminals, including acquisitions.
5 Best Transportation Stocks To Invest In 2015: GasLog Ltd (GLOG)
GasLog Ltd. (GasLog), incorporated on July 16, 2003, is an owner, operator and manager of liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers. The Company is a holding company. Its subsidiaries conduct all of its operations and own all of its operating assets, including its ships. The Company operates in two segments: vessel ownership and vessel management. In the vessel ownership segment, the services provided primarily consist of chartering out company-owned LNG carriers, and in the vessel management segment the services provided consist of LNG carrier technical management services, as well as LNG carrier construction supervision services and other vessel management services provided to the Company�� vessel ownership segment and to external third parties.
In February 2011, GasLog Carriers Ltd. established two vessel-owning companies, GAS-five Ltd. and GAS-six Ltd. In March 2011, GasLog Carriers Ltd. established two vessel-owning companies, GAS-seven Ltd. and GAS-eight Ltd. In June 2011, GasLog Carriers Ltd. established two additional vessel-owning companies, GAS-nine Ltd. and GAS-ten Ltd. In June 2011, Ceres Shipping Ltd. (Ceres Shipping) transferred its interest in GasLog Ltd. to Blenheim Holdings Ltd. (Blenheim Holdings). In June 2011, an entity jointly owned by the Livanos and Radziwill families (Joint Venture Partner) sold its 49% interest in GAS-three Ltd., GAS-four Ltd., GAS-five Ltd. and GAS-six Ltd. to Ceres Shipping. Ceres Shipping contributed the 49% interest in GAS-three Ltd., GAS-four Ltd., GAS-five Ltd. and GAS-six Ltd. to Blenheim Holdings, who in turn contributed the 49% interest in these four vessel-owning companies to GasLog Ltd., which contributed the same to GasLog Carriers Ltd. As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned 100% interest in GAS-three Ltd., GAS-four Ltd., GAS-five Ltd. and GAS-six Ltd. On July 11, 2011 and September 5, 2011, the Company transferred its interest of two dormant subsidiaries, GasLog Holdings Limited and GasLog Services Limited, respectively, to Ceres Shi! pping.
As of December 31, 2011, the Company�� owned fleet consisted of 10 wholly owned LNG carriers. As of December 31, 2011, the Company managed and operated 14 LNG carriers, which included its owned ships, as well as 11 ships owned or leased by BG Group plc (BG Group), a participant in the worldwide energy and natural gas markets, and one additional LNG carrier in which it had a 25% interest. As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned a 25% interest in Egypt LNG Shipping Ltd. (Egypt LNG), whose principal asset is the LNG carrier Methane Nile Eagle. The Company�� owned fleet includes the GasLog Savannah, the GasLog Singapore, four LNG carriers on order at Samsung Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (Samsung Heavy Industries) in South Korea, two LNG carriers on order at Samsung Heavy Industries in South Korea, and two LNG carriers on order at Samsung Heavy Industries in South Korea.
The Company�� wholly owned subsidiary, GasLog LNG Services Ltd., (GasLog LNG Services) handles the technical management of its fleet. Through GasLog LNG Services, it provides technical ship management services for 12 LNG carriers owned by third parties in addition to management of the two LNG carriers operating in its owned fleet. The Company provides the services of its owned ships under time charters. The Company�� subsidiaries include GasLog Investments Ltd., GasLog Monaco S.A.M., Ceres LNG Employee Incentive Scheme Ltd., GasLog Carriers Ltd., GAS-one Ltd., GAS-two Ltd., GAS-three Ltd., GAS-four Ltd., GasLog Shipping Company Ltd., GasLog Shipping Limited and Egypt LNG Shipping Ltd.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jan-e- Alam]
GasLog (NYSE: GLOG ) shares have come under pressure recently, as the news of the recent transaction between Teekay LNG Partners (NYSE: TGP ) and BG Group (NASDAQOTH: BRGYY ) raised growth concerns among investors. I will get to the details of the transaction and why I think the deal was not for GasLog later, but let's first take a look at GasLog and why I think the company stands to benefit from the liquefied natural gas (LNG) boom.
- [By Robert Rapier]
Last month saw two new master limited partnerships (MLPs) go public.�GasLog Partners�(NYSE: GLOP) is an offshoot of�GasLog�(NYSE: GLOG), which is an owner, operator and manager of liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers. GasLog (GLOG) owns the 2 percent general partner interest, all incentive distribution rights and a 49.8 percent limited partner interest in GLOP.
- [By Robert Rapier]
GasLog (NYSE: GLOG) owns 15 LNG carriers, with eight ships on the water and seven more to be delivered by 2016. The company is one that we have liked and recommended, and it performed well in 2013, up 33 percent for the year. It has long been thought that the company might drop down assets into an MLP, but last week’s news that this will indeed be the case helped propel the stock up nearly 20 percent for the week.
- [By Rich Duprey]
LNG carrier owner-operator GasLog (NYSE: GLOG ) will pay a second-quarter dividend of $0.11 per share, the same rate it's paid for the last two quarters after initiating its dividend payment, the company announced today.
Top 5 Paper Stocks To Own For 2015: Navios Maritime Partners LP (NMM)
Navios Maritime Partners L.P. (Navios Partners) is an international owner and operator of dry cargo vessels formed by Navios Holdings. Navios GP L.L.C. (the General Partner), a wholly owned subsidiary of Navios Maritime Holdings Inc. (Navios Holdings) acts as the general partner of Navios Partners and received a 2% general partner interest in Navios Partners. Navios Partners is engaged in the seaborne transportation services of a range of drybulk commodities, including iron ore, coal, grain and fertilizer, chartering its vessels under medium to long-term charters. On May 19, 2011, Navios Partners acquired from Navios Holdings the Navios Orbiter, a 76,602 deadweight Panamax vessel. On May 19, 2011, Navios Partners acquired from Navios Holdings the Navios Luz. In June 2012, the Company purchased the Navios Buena Ventura, a 2010 South-Korean-built Capesize vessel of 179,259 dwt from Navios Maritime Holdings Inc.
The Company is an international owner and operator of drybulk carriers formed by Navios Maritime Holdings Inc., a vertically integrated seaborne shipping company. Its vessels are chartered-out under medium to long-term time charters with an average remaining term of approximately four years to a group of counterparties, consisting of Cosco Bulk Carrier Co. Ltd., Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd., Samsun Logix, STX Panocean, Sanko Steamship Co. Ltd., Daiichi Chuo Kisen Kaisha, Augustea Imprese Maritime, Rio Tinto, Constellation Energy Group and Mansel.
As of December 31, 2011, the Company�� fleet consisted of 11 Panamax vessels, six Capesize vessels and one Ultra-Handymax vessel. Its fleet of dry cargo vessels has an average age of approximately 5.6 years. Panamax vessels are flexible vessels capable of carrying a range of drybulk commodities, including iron ore, coal, grain and fertilizer. All of its vessels operate under medium to long-term time charters of three or more years at inception with counterparties. It also operates vessels in the spot market until the vessels have! been fixed under appropriate medium to long-term charters.
The Company competes with China Ocean Shipping, China Shipping Group, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Kawasaki Kisen, Nippon Yusen Kaisha, Cargill, Pacific Basin Shipping, Bocimar, Zodiac Maritime, Louis Dreyfus/Cetragpa, Cobelfret and Torvald Klaveness.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Eric Volkman]
As far as unitholder payouts are concerned, the seas for Navios Maritime Partners (NYSE: NMM ) are calm and smooth. The company has declared its latest quarterly distribution, which is to be $0.4425 per unit paid on Aug. 13 to holders of record as of Aug. 8. That amount matches each of Navios' previous four disbursements, the most recent of which was paid in mid-May. Previous to that, the company handed out a quarter-cent less, at $0.44 per share.
- [By Igor Greenwald]
Our Aggressive Portfolio already includes one beneficiary of these trends��avios Maritime Partners (NMM), a partnership with 25 dry bulk carriers, and now, five newly-acquired container ships.
5 Best Transportation Stocks To Invest In 2015: Southcross Energy Partners LP (SXE)
Southcross Energy Partners, L.P., incorporated on April 12, 2004, is a limited partnership. The Company owns, operates, develops and acquires midstream energy assets. The Company provides natural gas gathering, processing, treating, compression and transportation services and natural gas liquid (NGL) fractionation services to its producer customers, under fixed-fee and fixed-spread contracts, and it also sources, purchases, transports and sells natural gas and NGLs to its power generation, industrial and utility customers. Its assets are located in South Texas, Mississippi and Alabama. During the year ended December 31, 2011, its South Texas assets, which consist of approximately 1,445 miles of pipeline and two processing plants and accounted for approximately 77% of its revenues. Its Mississippi and Alabama assets, which consist of approximately 626 and 519 miles of pipeline, respectively, provide transportation of natural gas to its power generation, industrial and utility customers, as well as to unaffiliated interstate pipelines. The assets in its South Texas region are located between Houston and Freer. These assets consist of approximately 1,445 miles of pipeline ranging in diameter from 2 inches to 20 inches. In March 2014, the Company acquired natural gas pipelines near Corpus Christi, Texas along with contracts related to those pipelines.
South Texas
The assets in the Company�� South Texas region are located between Houston and Freer, a city, which is located approximately 50 miles west of Corpus Christi. These assets consist of approximately 1,445 miles of pipeline ranging in diameter from 2 inches to 20 inches with an estimated design capacity of 590 million cubic feet per day. Its South Texas region also includes 29 compressors with total compression of approximately 35,000 horsepower, two processing plants with total processing capacity of 185 million cubic feet per day and contracted third-party processing capacity of 83 million cubic feet per day, two treatin! g plants and one fractionator. During 2011, the systems in this region had an average throughput of 379 million cubic feet per day, including the processing plants, which processed an average of 75 million cubic feet per day in that period. It divides its South Texas region into four asset systems Vanderbilt and Gulf Coast gathering systems, which it refers to collectively as the Gulf Coast system; CCNG Transmission, which refer to as the CCNG system; Gregory gathering system, Gregory processing plant and Gregory fractionation plant, and Conroe gathering system and Conroe processing plant.
The pipelines in its South Texas segment are connected to multiple producing fields, including the Eagle Ford shale area. In addition to tie-ins to its two processing plants, its gathering systems are also connected to two processing plants owned by third parties and to a range of intrastate and interstate pipelines.
The Gulf Coast system is located throughout 13 counties in South Texas, including parts of the Eagle Ford shale area, and consists of two pipeline systems. The Gulf Coast system includes approximately 743 miles of pipeline ranging from 2 inches to 20 inches in diameter with an estimated design capacity of 205 million cubic feet per day. The system also includes seven compressors with compression of approximately 7,136 horsepower on a combined basis. During 2011, this system had an average throughput of approximately 114 million cubic feet per day.
The Gulf Coast system acquires natural gas from over 100 producers at prices that are at a fixed discount to the Houston Ship Channel Index price. The gas is delivered to third-party processing plants, including the Formosa processing plant located in Point Comfort, Texas and the Hilcorp processing plant located in Old Ocean, Texas. In the case of the Hilcorp processing plant, its customers pay it gathering fees to transport approximately 25 million cubic feet per day from their wells to this processing plant. Its producer ! customers! on the Gulf Coast system range from small independent exploration and production companies to producers, such as Chesapeake Energy and Devon Energy.
The CCNG system is located in the Eagle Ford shale area and consists of over 417 miles of transmission and gathering pipeline ranging from 2 inches to 20 inches in diameter. The system also includes one compressor with total compression of approximately 1,260 horsepower. During 2011, the system had an average throughput of 190 million cubic feet per day. Natural gas is supplied to this system from approximately 35 field receipt points, treating plants and third party gathering systems and pipelines, including Texas Eastern, Kinder Morgan and Conoco Lobo. Producers who supply or transport natural gas on the CCNG system include Swift Energy, EOG, Exxon, Comstock and Apache. Liquids-rich gas can be transported from the western end of the system to its Woodsboro and Gregory processing plants. Dry gas is brought into the dry gas portions of the system along with residue gas from the outlets of its processing plants. Gas in the system is purchased and sold, under fixed-spread arrangements, as well as transported on behalf of shippers. The CCNG system sells its dry natural gas in the industrial market around the city of Corpus Christi. A portion of the throughput on its CCNG system is processed at its Gregory processing plant or at the Formosa processing plant located in Point Comfort, Texas.
The Gregory gathering system is located near Corpus Christi, Texas and consists of approximately 266 miles of pipeline ranging from 4 inches to 18 inches in diameter. The system also includes one compressor. Its Gregory processing plant is a cryogenic natural gas plant comprised of two units collectively having a total capacity of 135 million cubic feet per day. Its Gregory processing plant processes natural gas from the Gregory gathering system, as well as gas originating in its CCNG System.
Produced NGLs are fractionated in the Compan! y�� fra! ctionator located on the same site as the Company�� Gregory processing plant. Purity ethane is shipped through pipeline to Dow Chemical while remaining NGLs are shipped through truck to local markets, which yield a premium to available pipeline rates. All of its customers on the Gregory gathering system pay a flat fee for natural gas to be gathered in the system and processed at the Gregory processing plant. Its Conroe processing plant is a 50 million cubic feet per day cryogenic natural gas plant. The plant recovers approximately 65% of the ethane contained in the inlet natural gas, depending on loads and temperatures.
Mississippi
The assets in the Company�� Mississippi region are located in the southern half of the state and comprise the intrastate pipeline system in Mississippi. The Mississippi assets consist of approximately 626 miles of pipeline ranging in diameter from 2 inches to 20 inches. The Mississippi system also includes two compressors. During 2011, the system had an average throughput of 86 million cubic feet per day. It generates revenues from its Mississippi assets by charging fixed transportation fees to shippers and by entering into fixed-spread contracts with suppliers and power generation, industrial and utility customers. During 2011, fixed-fee transportation contracts comprised 34.8% of the volumes it transported on its Mississippi system and fixed-spread contracts comprised the remaining 65.2% of its volumes.
Alabama
The assets in the Company�� Alabama region are located in northwest and central Alabama and consist of 519 miles of natural gas gathering pipeline ranging from 2 inches to 16 inches in diameter. The Alabama system also includes 22 compressors with total compression of approximately 24,537 horsepower. The system has an estimated design capacity of 375 million cubic feet per day. The gas supply to the system is coalbed methane gas from the Black Warrior Basin with incremental volumes gathered from conventional ! gas wells! . It gathers, transports, compresses, purchases and sells natural gas in Alabama and offers both intrastate transportation and interstate transportation services. During 2011, 81% of the volumes on its Alabama system were transported pursuant to fixed-fee transportation contracts and 19% of the volumes on the system were purchased from producers and then transported and sold to power generation, industrial and utility customers pursuant to fixed-spread contracts.
The Company competes with Copano Energy, L.L.C., Energy Transfer Partners, L.P., Enterprise Products Partners LP and Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Lisa Levin]
Southcross Energy Partners LP (NYSE: SXE) shares rose 11.05% to $20.61. The volume of Southcross Energy shares traded was 624% higher than normal. Southcross Energy and TexStar Midstream Services announced a combination agreement.
5 Best Transportation Stocks To Invest In 2015: Norfolk Souther Corporation(NSC)
Norfolk Southern Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in the rail transportation of raw materials, intermediate products, and finished goods primarily in the United States. The company transports coal products, such as coal, coke, and iron ore; automotive products, including finished vehicles and auto parts; chemicals products consisting of sulfur and related chemicals, petroleum products, chlorine and bleaching compounds, plastics, rubber, industrial chemicals, chemical wastes, and municipal wastes; metals and construction products comprising steel, aluminum products, machinery, scrap metals, cement, aggregates, bricks, and minerals; and paper, clay, and forest products, including lumber and wood products, pulp board and paper products, wood fibers, wood pulp, scrap paper, and clay. It also transports agriculture, consumer, and government products, such as soybeans, wheat, corn, fertilizer, animal and poultry feed, food oils, flour, beverages, canned goods, swee teners, consumer products, ethanol, and items for the military. In addition, it engages in the intermodal operations that include moving of shipments in trailers, the United States and international containers, and roadrailer equipment. Further, the company transports overseas freight through various Atlantic and Gulf Coast ports, as well as provides a range of logistics services; and operates passenger and commuter trains. Additionally, it involves in the acquisition, leasing, and management of coal, oil, gas, and minerals; the development of commercial real estate; telecommunications; and the leasing or sale of rail property and equipment. As of December 31, 2010, the company operated approximately 20,000 route miles in 22 states and the District of Columbia. The company was founded in 1883 and is based in Norfolk, Virginia.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Dan Caplinger]
Union Pacific started out the quarter on the right foot, announcing 11% earnings growth in mid-April that beat expectations. The company overcame a slight decline in shipping volume by raising its overall prices, and even though coal shipments remained weak, investors can expect those figures to rise later in the year. As coal companies have shifted their attention toward export markets in light of low U.S. natural-gas prices and reduced domestic demand, railroad rivals CSX (NYSE: CSX ) and Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC ) have sought to defend their powerful geographical advantage by catering to Appalachian coal companies seeking access to export terminals. Union Pacific historically hasn't been as dependent on coal for its overall revenue, but tapping the coal export market also makes sense for it as it seeks a broadly diversified portfolio of revenue sources.
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