Ship Demolition Activity Finding It Hard To Recover

Ships’ recycling has taken a turn in favor of ship owners, as scarce tonnage has forced yards to compete for tonnage, leading to higher prices. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Clarkson Platou Hellas said that “a new week but unfortunately this did not relate to a fresh deluge of tonnage for Buyers to ingrain themselves into and instead has meant that those vessels that have been circulated, have received positive competition resulting in each sale raising eyebrows to the benefit of Owners as price levels continue to remain firm and bubble just below the USD 400/per ldt mark in India and Pakistan. This is another situation to watch closely as the respective recycling destinations tussle for the market tonnage and increase their prices accordingly, often if Indian Buyers like a specific type of vessel they will pay whatever is needed to obtain it, but certainly indications from the Indian recyclers have narrowed towards the rates from Pakistan”.

According to Clarkson Platou Hellas, “interestingly, the Bangladesh Cartel has lasted yet another week as it tries to control the sharp price increases in the market and create a level playing field. Although with India and Pakistan being more attractive at present, they will soon need to increase their threshold to remain competitive and refrain from losing too much tonnage to its neighbouring counterparts. In Turkey, prices continue to maintain some common ground as they too are starting to see the number of available units for them diminish in the market, creating an ultra-competitive market place for any Owner with tonnage in the Mediterranean or North Continent. However those yards that have obtained EU approval are continuously bogged down with approaches and are now finding themselves fully booked for even Q1 of 2021, unless yards are given approval by the end of the year to ease capacity in the region”, the shipbroker concluded.

 

In a separate report this week, GMS (http://www.gmsinc.net/), GMS said that “the world’s leading cash buyer of ships, said thatAfter weeks of uncertainty following the formation of a cartel in Bangladesh and the ongoing volatility in competing markets (i.e. India & Pakistan), subcontinent prices finally appear to have somewhat settled this week. As the troublesome winter months approach and Covid-19 cases continue to rise across the globe, the focus has once again fallen on Europe where second spikes are being witnessed. In many areas, more cases and hospitalizations are being reported than before the lockdowns began in March – April time, in further concerning developments over the recent past. Markets therefore remain somewhat on edge, as the seemingly unending search for a vaccine goes on and the economic fallout from the first round of lockdowns continues to be felt worldwide”, the shipbroker said.

GMS added that “there is also the uncertainty regarding the upcoming U.S. election (to be determined in November) and how long it may take to announce a winner with absentee voting, now likely to be required to register votes with Covid-19 still surging in the U.S. Supply into subcontinent markets for recycling has slowed over this last month or so, as charter markets – particularly in the container and dry bulk sectors – pick up again after a largely woeful first half of the year. At the far end, the Turkish market seems to have finally stabilized this week, with scrap steel imports firming up marginally and the Lira though weaker, has also been stable this week. In other news this week, GMS successfully concluded their fourth webinar in their Leadership series on the Hong Kong Convention and the role of Japan & Norway in making the first progressive steps in encouraging developments in the subcontinent and we would like to thank all those who tuned in once again”, GMS concluded.

Nikos Roussanoglou, Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide