In Hellenic Shipping News 10/04/2015
Dry bulk market rates have fallen to historical lows over the past few weeks, with no clear path of recovery, at least in the near term. As such, most ship owners are finding themselves caught “between a rock and hard place”. But is it really this the case? Some shipbrokers believe that the current market environment has also one important side effect, the fall of asset prices, which means that dry bulk ships are getting cheaper by the day. As such, cash-rich ship owners could easily take advantage of knock down prices, especially as more and more distressed sales could emerge in the coming weeks.
According to the latest report from shipbroker Allied Shipbroking, “while dry bulk owners start to feel that they have managed to get out of one bad patch, everyone starts to point at yet another up ahead. It seems to be a perfect storm unfolding and one that many will claim was more than expected. Yet amidst poor sentiment in the freight market is were real opportunity is born. The market will eventually recovery and those who manage to take the right pickings during the bottom are often herald as the pioneers and holders of true foresight of what lays ahead. However it is never as clear as that. Taking on any investment decision, as things stand now, seems to be bor-derline crazy. Earnings are hovering at around OPEX levels, often with owners search-ing into their own pockets in order to cover the cost of voyages they have fixed”, said Mr. George Lazaridis, Head of Market Research & Asset Valuations.
He added that “amidst all this pessimism is where you will also find sufficient discounts in the prices of secondhand assets which will provide the ample promise for reward that would com-pensate the current risk. One such size segment that shows to have a good ratio of risk against potential reward is that of the Hadysize vessels and particularly modern vessels on the larger end of the size spectrum (ie.35-38,000dwt). Prices for these assets have never been lower and compared to placing a new contracting on one of the “hungry for orders” shipyards, the discount is more than enough. At a price of US$ 13.5m for a 5 year old unit you get a discount of close to 40% which is equal to close to 8% deprecia-tion in value per year. But one may ask, why is this any different to the larger Supras and Panamaxes which offer similar if not better discounts on modern units?”.
“Handysize vessels seem to hold one more ace up the sleeve. Last month we witnessed yet another drop in size of the fleet in terms of number of vessels. The fleet now stands now stands at 2,437 which is only 3 more vessels then what there was on the 1st of January 2015. This becomes all the more noteworthy when you consider that this has happened during a period in the year were new building deliveries are more intense (everyone wants to benefit from having their vessel written as built in the new year), while also worth noting is the limited orderbook compared to the strong number of vessels in the fleet which are currently over 25 years of age”, said Lazaridis.
Earlier in the week, ship owner Pacific Basin, which is focused in the smaller ship classes, said that “in the Handysize and Handymax segments, where “market spot rates averaged US$5,070 and US$6,110 per day net respectively in the first quarter of 2015, representing a 45% reduction in average rates compared to the same period last year. Newbuilding deliveries deferred from 2014 into January and February coincided with the lunar new year holidays seasonal demand slowdown in China and seasonal export disruptions in key trade areas. Together, these pulled the Baltic Dry Index (BDI) to its lowest since indices began in 1985. However, spot market rates for Handysize and Handymax vessels have gradually improved since lunar new year, albeit from a very low base”, concluded Pacific Basin”.
Lazaridis concluded his analysis by noting that “all this put together allows for better prospects and in essence lower risk while providing comparatively similar asset play returns (in percentage terms) with that of the larger sizes. To close off, it is always worth noting that there is a bright side to every market slump as there is also a dark side to every market boom. Both need caution and proper estimating of the kind of risk/reward one engages with”.
