Recycling sales and speculation ramped up
another notch last week as several extraordinarily high-priced deals were
concluded, GMS said in its weekly report.
These deals were concluded mainly in the
bullish Pakistani market.
Meanwhile, on the local markets front, on the
back of the repeat tragedy on board the ‘FSU ACES’ a few weeks ago, the
Pakistani market remains (seemingly indefinitely) closed for tankers.
Moreover, the recent firming dry and
container freight rates have in turn led to an dearth of potential units,
compared to years gone by, from these sectors.
Notwithstanding, fundamentals remain firm
overall and we may well experience some buoyancy across all sub-continent
markets as the year-end approaches – a time that has traditionally been an
active period in the ship recycling industry as shipowners look to sell off
their ageing assets in order to balance their books, GMS said
On the pricing front, there certainly seems
to be a disconnect between the levels that cash buyers have concluded, when
compared to the reality on the ground, ie levels offered by local recyclers.
Only time will tell whether such offerings
will improve to the extent that profits are realised on some of these recently
exaggerated sales.
It is a shame that the Chinese market remains
essentially closed and the Turkish market remains relatively subdued, as local
steel prices, currencies and scrap fundamentals remain steady - especially in
the sub-continent markets, GMS concluded.
Meanwhile, India has drafted legislation to
implement the ‘Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and
Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships’, Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari said
this week. “To make the ship recycling industry safe for its workers and the
environment, draft legislation to implement the Hong Kong Convention (HKC) is
now undergoing pre-legislative consultations; I am confident that we will
ratify this convention in the not-too-distant future.”
He was addressing delegates at the IMO
Assembly in London on Tuesday.
The Convention is yet to enter into force as
it has not been ratified by 15 states, representing 40% of the world merchant
shipping by gross tonnage. Only six countries – Norway, Congo, France, Belgium,
Panama and Denmark — have ratified it, thus far.
India is currently upgrading the world’s
largest stretch of shipbreaking beaches on Alang-Sosiya in Gujarat’s Bhavnagar
district through a $76 mill soft loan from the Japan International Cooperation
Agency.
Since 2015, recycling yards in Alang-Sosiya
have voluntarily started upgrading their facilities to conform to the HKC. Some
55 of the 120 working yards have won HKC compliance certificates from class
societies. Fifteen other yards are being audited for certification.
As for vessels sold for recycling, brokers
reported that the 1996-built VLCC ‘OS Arcadia’ had been committed to Bangladesh
breakers for around $419 per ldt.
The 1993-built Suezmax ‘Green Trader’ was
reported sold to unknown interests for $417 per ldt on the basis of ‘as is’
Singapore, while the two 1999-built Aframaxes - ‘Astute’ and ‘Tina’ - were
reported sold to Indian sub-continent buyers at an undisclosed level.
Finally, Indian recyclers were said to have
taken the 1993-built Handysize ‘Harsha Prem’ for an undisclosed price.
Source:
tanker
operator. 01 December 2017
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