GMS weekly report on ShipBreaking industry for WEEK 34 of 2011:

Market Highlights:

• Varying degrees of caution from markets.
• Few sales reported.
• China remains steady.
• India back on top.

Market Commentary -

Jittery Progress:

Recycling markets in the sub continent continue to exhibit varying degrees of caution with the Indian market at the forefront of the volatility witnessed over recent weeks. This week, the volatility turned to confusion, as despite a drop in local steel plate prices towards the end of the week, (speculative) offers from a few buyers seemed to exhibit an increased interest for tonnage from the local market. This eventually led to the conclusion of a few units at comparatively firmer prices.

Meanwhile, even though levels from the Pakistani market were 3rd on the market rankings, they appeared to have the poorest performance of all 4 markets (in terms of market fixtures).

On the other side, while Bangladesh levels remained almost at par with those from India, Chittagong buyers continued to cherry pick their share of tonnage, on the back of poor prices, weak demand, and a sheer number of deliveries over the recent past.

Finally, the Chinese recycling sector remained the only one where demand and prices, although significantly lower than the competing recycling destinations, remained stable.

As Ramadan and the Monsoon season (in the near future) are nearing an end, industry players are hoping to see a (small) resurgence of demand (and possibly prices) from the sub-continent overall.

For week 34 of 2011, GMS demo rankings for the week are as below:

Country	Market Sentiment	Gen Cargo Prices	Tanker Prices
India	Cautious	USD 505/lt ldt	USD 525/lt ldt
Bangladesh	Weak	USD 500/lt ldt	USD 525/lt ldt
Pakistan	Weak	USD 485/lt ldt	USD510/lt ldt
China	Cautious	USD 450/lt ldt	USD 465/lt ldt

Source: GMS Weekly. Monday 29 August 2011 

http://download.hellenicshippingnews.com/pdf/August%2026,%202011.pdf