27 June 2018

GMS Market Commentaryon shipbreaking in Week 24 - RESISTANCE ENDURES!


As the Holy month of Ramadan draws to a close with the week-long Eid festivities across the Indian sub-continent and Turkey, activity and sales seemed to gain momentum this week – perhaps with the anticipation of firming levels in the near future. As such, following the sale of two FSUs last week, there was another VLCC sale to report this week, at increasingly bullish numbers.

Curiously, it seems to be certain Cash Buyers who are driving the current pricing trend, rather than local markets / fundamentals. Bangladesh and Pakistan have been expectedly quiet during Ramadan and Eid holidays whilst India has remained volatile and barely aggressive on the larger LDT units.

It will therefore be interesting to see if prices do rise up to match some of the speculative offerings on recent tonnage. The general consensus is that Pakistan may remain inert for some time, due to the import of a majority of the unsold Cash Buyer VLCC and large LDT (wet) tonnage, following their April reopening for tankers.

Bangladesh too has endured a frustrating period on the sidelines following a dramatic decline in prices by about USD 50/LDT several months ago, leaving them as the lowest placed of all sub-continent markets at that time. However, a recent uptick in both demand and levels has seen Chittagong Buyers making a comeback of late. Despite this, it does not seem that local levels are matching Cash Buyer asking prices just yet.

Source: steel guru. 19 June 2018