GMS weekly report on shipbreaking industry for WEEK 29 of 2013:

The crisis that had enveloped the Indian market over the past few weeks appears to have eased as the currency has stabilized with some assistance from the government as well as local steel plate prices that displayed an upward trajectory for much of the week.

With dry vessels in all sub-continent markets still trading at well below USD 400/LT LDT, it cannot be said that any recovery is underway, just that a certain sense of stability seems to have returned to the markets after the unending decline.

Cash buyers are once again offering on vessels and some are even speculating on a forward delivery and gambling on an anticipated fourth quarter recovery.

For many owners, the prices are still not at a level sufficient enough to consider selling -there is though no guarantee of a market recovery to those numbers seen earlier in the year. Indeed, it is worth reminding ourselves that prices remain at a historically firm level in and around USD 400/LT LDT.

The onset of Ramadan has not helped the performance of the markets in Bangladesh and Pakistan, coupled with the monsoon season and the slower overall supply of vessels usually seen in the summer, it has been a quieter overall month of activity in both countries so far.

China lias seen something of a recovery in recent weeks, as a growing appetite, and rise in steel plate, prices has seen levels improve from below USD 300/LT LDT to low USD 300s/LT LDT putting them in touching distance with their competitors.

For week 29 of 2013, GMS demo rankings for the week are as below:

Country	Market	GEN CARGO Prices	TANKER prices
India	Weak	USD3S5/ltldt	USD415/ltldt
Bangladesh	Weak	USD 350/11ldt	USD 415/ltldt
Pakistan	Weak	USD 380/Ltldt	USD 410/ltldt
China	Weak	USD 320/Ltldt	USD 330/ltldt

Source: steel guru. 23 July 2013

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