In Hellenic Shipping News 15/03/2017
The norm that has ship owners refraining from brisk newbuilding contracting activity has kept apace over the past week, as shipbroker reports have noted that there were few orders placed, with most of them revolving around more specialized units, rather than the main “bread and butter” segments of the industry, like tankers or bulkers. According to the latest weekly report from shipbroker Allied Shipbroking, “prices have shown some few signs of softening, though overall there seems to remain a great deal of resistance from shipbuilders, implying that the current underlining costs and excessive rise in most commodity prices and increased volatility are preventing shipbuilders from taking on any new orders and excessively low levels in fear of being left exposed to any potential losses down the line”.
In a separate weekly newbuilding report, shipbroker Clarkson Platou Hellas noted that there were “a few new orders to report previous week – In Tankers, Ningbo Yongwang Shipping in China are reported to have placed an order at Taizhou Kouan Shipbuilding for a single 23,000 DWT Tanker which is expected to deliver in 2Q 2018. This further extends Kouan’s small tanker orderbook adding to the two 17,500 DWT Tankers it is currently building for Stenersen A/S. In Gas, HHI’s have signed contracts for one 180,000 CBM LNG Carrier with Knutsen OAS Shipping A/S. This single unit is set for delivery in 2020 and will be built at HHI’s Ulsan facility. Earlier this year in February, HHI signed a contract with Kolin Construction in Turkey for one 170,000 CBM LNG-FSRU and also received an order for one 170,000 CBM LNG-FSRU from Hoegh LNG when they declaring their optional unit in January”.
Meanwhile, in the S&P market, Allied Shipbroking noted that “on the dry bulk side, there seemed to have been a slight drop in activity this week, compared to what we have been seeing during the past couple of months. At the same time however, it seems as though this is hardly indicative with what’s being going on in the market during the same time period, as prices have started to show some of the highest gains noted in many months. It seems as though the temporary pause in activity volume this past week, is more so a reflection of sellers delaying their decision to sell, hoping to achieve much better price levels for their candidates in a couple of weeks. On the tanker side, we are still seeing limited action, with the main focus being once again in the smaller chemical/oil products segments. With prices having taken a fair dip these past months while earnings have not followed in suit, it seems as though sellers have postponed any decision to sell, feeling that the secondhand market is excessively bearish due to the considerable uncertainty out there”.
In the demolition market, Clarkson Platou Hellas said that “with the market being starved of tonnage again this week, it would appear that interest from some cash buyers has gone through the roof and any tonnage being circulated has been achieving a speculative premium. It is certainly anyone’s guess as to where the next movements will come from. The end users (recyclers) are apparently becoming sceptical with the lack of tonnage availability and subsequent, future supply. Whilst the cash buyers appear to be gambling, the questions as always is whether the current demand for tonnage from the recyclers will see some sudden increases from the waterfront. The slowdown of tonnage, particularly dry bulk units, looks set to continue for some time in light of the recent spike in the dry freight market where there has been a significant improvement in. Suddenly these overaged bulk carriers that should have been heading towards the recycling yards at the beginning of the year are now attracting interest from both charterers and, importantly, from trading buyers for further use. Meantime, Pakistan and Bangladesh buyers have further strengthened this week on the back of strong local demand and steel plate prices which in turn has caused both markets to lead the way again above their neighbouring cousin India, although this still remains the only destination for Owners seeking yards with ‘Green Recycling’ credentials and remains an important advantage within the ever-evolving market. Furthermore the recent upturn in the Chinese market may have peaked with there being reports of a slight decline, however as per the norm in China this could just be a slight correction due to the local market fluctuations and thus, the next few weeks could be intriguing”, the shipbroker concluded.
Nikos Roussanoglou, Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide
