Just
as prices threatened to touch the USD 500/LT LDT mark and beyond on high spec
vessels (tankers and containers), falling steel prices in China, a weakened
currency in India, and the continued oversupply of average to poor units saw a
price retreat in several of the major ship recycling markets.
Bangladesh
was the only market that remained at the forefront of the buying, with demand
prevalent for all types of units present. Many Chittagong buyers remain keen to
stock their yards before June 2012, when the local budget is expected to bring
changes in the tax structure.
Monsoon
season is also looming large to the end buyers in the Indian sub continent,
this means a shortage of labor and heavy rains adversely affecting both
beaching and cutting operations.
Nevertheless,
tonnage continues to hit the market at a rapid rate with the focus shifting
onto container vessels and reefers of late. Whilst containers continue to find
favor with Indian, Chinese and even Bangladeshi buyers now, reefers are
becoming increasingly hard to sell due to the un quantified weight of
insulation always found on board, which end buyers end up having to pay for
without ever finding any use or value of.
Finally,
Turkey continued their recent hot streak with the conclusion of several smaller
general cargo units this week - the SERGEY S (2,650 LDT), MIKHAIL I (2,650 LDT)
and VICTOR K (2,650 LDT) - all built USSR were concluded for region USD 358/LT
LDT.
Finally,
Turkey continued their recent hot streak with the conclusion of several smaller
general cargo units this week - the SERGEY S (2,650 LDT), MIKHAIL I (2,650 LDT)
and VICTOR K (2,650 LDT) - all built USSR were concluded for region USD 358/LT
LDT.
Overall,
a paucity of open buyers is making resale efforts increasingly challenging as
many cash buyers currently hold tonnage, which they are having trouble
offloading and will no doubt take significant hits on. The coming weeks will be
critical in assessing the direction of prices going into the summer / monsoon
season. One suspects that the peak for the first half of this year has already
been reached with the outlook now for the next few months at least only likely
to head one way.
For
week 16 of 2012, GMS demo rankings for the week are as below:
| Country | Market Sentiment | GEN Cargo Prices | Tanker Prices |
| Bangladesh | Bullish | USD465/lt ldt | USD 490/lt ldt |
| Pakistan | Weak | USD455/lt ldt | USD 480/lt ldt |
| India | Weak | USD450/lt ldt | USD 475/lt ldt |
| China | Weak | USD410/lt ldt | USD 425/lt ldt |
Source: Steel
Guru (Source d from GMS Weekly). 28 April 2012
No comments:
Post a Comment