The Diwali holiday season is once more upon us,
resulting in substantial volatility in the shipbreaking market, with cash
buyers appearing intent on speculating well ahead of the market in anticipation
of some post-holiday buoyancy, and end buyers keen to stock their plots before
the holiday break.
The increasing weakness of the Indian rupee against
the US dollar (it sagged to a level of INR62 against the greenback), and
constant fluctuations of steel prices within a $5-10 per ldt range, added to
the volatility in the market.
Local prices at Alang are nowhere near reflecting
those being offered by cash buyers, and there is some concern about the
security of those deals done at high rates – particularly if the market turns
or fails to climb to breakeven levels for the concerned cash buyer.
"Rates at present are already firm, and many end
buyers are nervous about increasing prices to the levels that over-zealous cash
buyers are demanding," said Dubai-based cash buyers GMS. "Indeed,
many local buyers are feeling somewhat stretched at present levels and are not
inclined to improve prices on available units at all."
Pakistani buyers continued to offer the best rates in
the market, despite there being a cautious undertone to their bidding of $490
per ldt for clean tankers and $460 per ldt for general cargo vessels. They have
had an outstanding third quarter in terms of purchases and profits.
Bangladeshi buyers, who have suffered from an
abnormally torrential monsoon, were next in the pecking order, offering $5 per
ldt less than their Gadani counterparts in both categories. Alang operators
were further adrift with bids of $480 and $450 per ldt respectively, for wet
and dry tonnage.
The talking point of the last week of September was
the unreal $535 per ldt rate at which the 10,448 ldt container vessel Altavia
sold. It seemed to be a one-off deal, since no other vessel in that segment
could attract a bid anywhere near that figure.
The other notable sale of the week was that of the
Chinese controlled 8,671 ldt general cargo/tweendecker vessel Zhong Xiang,
which attracted a rate of $512 per ldt. Brokers noted that the ship's favourable
size, heavy propeller, November delivery and low beam all contributed to the
impressive price.
Also achieving a decent price was the 4,950 ldt
'tween vessel Lalila Queen, which changed hands at $494 per ldt, with
approximately 125 tonnes of bunkers on board upon delivery. The 20,748 ldt
ro-ro/ container vessel Jolly Arancione was also sold at a fine rate of $463
per ldt on "as is Port Rashid" basis.
Overall, most end buyers across the sub-continent
seem content to wait out the Eid holidays (in Pakistan and Bangladesh) and
Diwali holidays (in India) before committing on new tonnage, sensing that
perhaps the peak on prices may have been reached already and the only direction
now is down.
Source: seatrade-global.
06 October 2014
No comments:
Post a Comment