The anticipated Supreme
Court hearing in India was again postponed, not once but twice already, as the
industry was left sweating on any potential closure. First, the hearing for
Friday was postponed until Monday and then, the hearing for Monday was put off
until the following week.
Meanwhile,
clearances and vessel deliveries up until that time do not appear to be
affected and it remains very much, business as usual on the shorefront.
Most
in the industry are expecting a positive verdict - it seems unfair to think
that a bulker (albeit one converted from a notoriously reputed tanker), the
ORIENTAL NICETY {ex EXXON VALDEZ) could be a toxic ship capable of causing the
extent of the (environmental) damage it has been purported to.
Still,
the doubts do linger, especially after the industry witnessed the enforced
closure of the Bangladeshi market, off and on, for almost 18 months.
Any
closure would be almost unthinkable for an industry that has of late, started
to once again get back on its feet following as much as 20 percent of end buyer
purchases being knocked off the value of vessels over the past 8 months or so,
due to the depreciating Rupee.
Despite
recent gains, the currency remains volatile, still perched precariously at
almost 56 to the dollar (at the time of writing). Additionally, local steel
plate prices too have shaved off almost 1,000 rupees/LT LDT (USD 20/LT LDT) of
their value over the course of the last week, leaving the recent mini-revival
(an upward shift by some USD 15-20/LT LDT) under some doubt.
Meanwhile,
the smaller Portuguese built chemical tanker UNION BRAVE (5,808 LDT) went for
an impressive USD 425/LT LDT gas free for hot works - with the full spares and
good UK ownership likety to be responsible for the impressive price on show.
Source: Steel Guru (sourced from GMS Weekly). 25 July
2012
http://www.steelguru.com/indian_news/GMS_weekly_report_on_Indian_ship_breaking_industry_for_WEEK_29_2012/275143.html
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