With Indian
sub-continent markets tiring on for another week, it became a three-way battle
for tonnage even for those vessels positioned in the East as China continued to
woefully lag behind on numbers. India once again secured the majority of the
market tonnage due to their sheer capacity to take on all types and sizes of
vessels.
In fact,
even the recently re-opened Calcutta market managed to taste their first share
of market tonnage this week, with the purchase of a smaller tween.
While the
competition for vessels has always been fierce, of late, it is becoming
increasingly common to see deals go right down to the wire, often being decided
by a matter of cents and how much the broker involved is willing to sacrifice,
just to get the deal done.
There is a
strong interest from buyers in both Pakistan and Bangladesh to stock their
yards before the upcoming budgets mid-May and for prompt candidates, time is
starting to run out. This could be one reason why cash buyers have been speculating
so heavily recently, going that extra mile just to secure pre-budget tonnage in
the hopes that, especially on the big ones, end buyers will jump up to expected
levels to fill their plots.
As pessimism
has prevailed every year, there are tears that budgets will bring with them
renewed taxes, which could bring increased import duties onto the shoulders of
end buyers.
However,
more often than not, the budgets pass by without incidence and levels maintain.
There is though, the very real feeling that levels may soften after these June
dates, with an influx of tonnage expected due to the persistent poor showing of
China and the upcoming monsoon season across the sub-continent.
For week 16
of 2013, GMS demo rankings for the week are as below:
| Country | Market Sentiment | Gen cargo price | Tanker price |
| Pakistan | Bullish | USD 415/lt ldt | USD 445/lt ldt |
| India | Bullish | USD 410/lt ldt | USD 440/lt ldt |
| Bangladesh | Bullish | USD 405/lt ldt | USD 430/lt ldt |
| China | Weak | USD 360/lt ldt | USD 370/lt ldt |
Source: Steel
Guru. 24 April 2013
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