The Danish container shipping company Maersk and the Danish green energy producer Ørsted have signed an agreement to produce green marine fuel in the USA.
To do this, Ørsted will build a so-called power-to-x plant that uses wind power to produce hydrogen gas. It will then be converted into liquid green fuel for Maersk.
This green fuel will be used for the 12 methanol-powered container vessels commissioned by Maersk as part of its goal of becoming CO2-neutral by 2040.
Other green projects
In Denmark, Maersk is also involved in several power-to-x projects.
In Esbjerg, the company is collaborating with Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners to build Europe’s largest power-to-x plant to produce green ammonia.
In Copenhagen, Maersk is working with many partners such as – among others – Ørsted, Copenhagen Airport or SAS to build a power-to-x plant to produce green fuel for ships, aircraft and trucks.
The number of persons receiving cash benefits at the lowest in 15 years
According to Statistics Denmark, the number of cash benefit recipients fell in December last year to the lowest level since January 2007. In fact, the number of cash benefit recipients in Denmark fell during the fourth quarter of 2021 by 4,900 people. This means that at the end of December, there were 95,400 people on cash benefits. The number of recipients peaked in August 2015 at 175,100. Since then, it has fallen steadily.
Diesel more expensive than gasoline
On Wednesday 16 March, a liter of diesel cost more than a liter of petrol – for the first time since 2006. According to the petrol station chain OK, a liter of diesel cost DKK 17.59 on Wednesday, while a liter of petrol cost DKK 17.29. However, there is an ongoing price war between the various petrol stations, and it is therefore possible to find lower prices.
Companies hit by record high import prices
Over the past year, it has become significantly more expensive for Danish companies to buy goods from abroad. According to Statistics Denmark, the average import prices of goods increased between February 2021 and February 2022 by 17.4 percent. This is the largest increase measured in a year. Manufacturers are also experiencing price increases – an increase of 31 percent during the year. Tore Stramer, chief economist at Dansk Industri, called the increases that are currently hitting Danish companies dizzying. He expects that prices will continue to rise in the coming months due to the war in Ukraine, which has triggered large price increases on energy and a number of raw materials.
Denmark’s consumption of natural gas at its lowest level since 1990
Danish consumption of natural gas has been declining for years. In 2020, it reached its lowest point since 1990. According to Statistics Denmark, the total energy consumption in Denmark in 2020 was more than 650 petajoules (one petajoule corresponds to a 278 gigawatt-hour). This was divided between energy sources such as oil products, renewable energy and natural gas. This very large amount of energy was used, for example, to heat houses. Natural gas accounted for 13 percent of consumption. That is more than half of what it was at its highest in 2004. Denmark produced 59 percent of its natural gas consumption, while the rest came on board. That same year, 41 percent of the natural gas imported into the EU came from Russia.
Companies risk being paid in Monopoly Money in Russia
It can cost a Danish company a lot to send an order to Russia right now. This is due to a new measure introduced in Russia in early March, which allows Russian companies to choose to pay an invoice from foreign companies in rubles – even if the invoice is issued in euros or dollars. The same measure also allows the Russian central bank to determine the exchange rate of the ruble. This means that in reality it is the Russian central bank that decides how much a foreign company must pay for its order to Russia. Mia Amalie Holstein, Deputy Head of SMVdanmark, sees a risk that Danish companies will not be paid properly when they send orders from Russia.
Rising interest rates are causing more people to switch to mortgages
According to Finans Danmark, rising interest rates have led even more people to restructure their mortgages. In February, Danish homeowners obtained 15,404 loan offers for conversions and additional loans. That’s 42.5 percent more than the same month last year. In Denmark, you can redeem your mortgage and take out a new one at the market rate. Because interest rates have risen, it has opened up the possibility for homeowners with fixed-rate mortgages to cut a good portion of their outstanding debt. However, the interest rate on a new fixed-rate loan will be higher than the old loan. Therefore, an up-conversion will mean a higher payout and thus only give a lasting gain if the homeowner at some point can switch to a lower interest rate again.
Ramboll delivers several records despite the corona pandemic
Rambøll is a Danish engineering and consulting company, and 2021 has been a historically good year on several parameters. According to the accounts for 2021, both its revenue and earnings have risen to record levels. A general increase in demand has helped Rambøll generate revenue of DKK 14.2 billion. That is four percent higher than the year before and a record for the company. The higher turnover has contributed to higher earnings – DKK 849 million – from operations. This is also a record. Rambøll’s CEO, Jens-Peter Saul, is very pleased with the achieved result on the operation in 2021. He expects to have another good year in 2022. Since its foundation in 1945, the company has grown into one of the largest engineering and consulting companies. in Denmark.
Several are caught trying to defraud insurance
According to new figures from F&P, insurance companies are getting better at detecting scammers who try to cheat themselves of financial gains. In 2020, the number of detected cases of insurance fraud increased by 41 percent. In total, companies revealed cheating for over a billion kroner. This is thanks to better IT tools to detect scams. Typical examples of fraud include fabricating and reporting a burglary that has never taken place, or making a claim worse than it is. In the Danish public, there is overwhelming opposition to insurance fraud. In a survey conducted by Epinion for F&P, 98 percent said it is not okay to exaggerate or make compensation to get more compensation.
SAS must raise prices 10 percent to offset higher oil prices
SAS must raise ticket prices by more than 10 percent compared to 2019 prices. It will compensate for fuel price increases that cost the company approximately 3-3.5 billion Swedish kroner extra (2.1-2.5 Danish kroner). This is the assessment of Sydbank’s head of equity analysis and SAS analyst, Jacob Pedersen. He expects that SAS will have a level of activity in the region of 70-80 percent of normal – 21-24 million passengers instead of 30 million – in the current financial year 2021/22. The large increase is due to the fact that SAS has not hedged its fuel purchases as usual due to uncertainty about traffic. “This leaves SAS with a larger additional bill than its competitors: many of them have covered part of their fuel consumption,” Pedersen said. On the other hand, SAS’s customers are not quite as price-sensitive as those of low-cost airlines. However, the company should not be able to send the entire bill over to the customers and will have greater losses than planned. SAS already has a debt of around SEK 35 billion, which must be reduced via an announced capital increase, which is expected to dilute existing minority shareholders dramatically.
The Nordic region’s largest crypto exchange on its way into Denmark
The Norwegian cryptocurrency exchange Firi, which has had great success in its home country with more than 140,000 customers, will soon enter the Danish market. ” In recent years, we have seen tremendous growth in Norway, where we saw the need for a crypto exchange that is locally rooted and based on local rules and cultural differences. We have not yet had one in Denmark, so it is an exciting market, ”says Karina Rothoff Brix, the company’s new country manager, who has spoken to Finans. Firi is scheduled to be launched in Denmark in the summer of 2022.