Does anyone remember the financial crisis of 2008? Politicians, bankers and corporate executives were playing down the potential of a financial crisis before it occurred... What goes around comes around. Nearly two weeks ago, Premier Li Keqiang of China in reference to the growing default risks developing in the Chinese shadow banking market stated, "It is indeed … [Read more...]
Bulk Carriers Continue to be Built While China Says GDP is “Flexible”
In February 2014, the dry bulk shipping fleet and orderbook continued to grow. Shipowners and investors continued to order larger vessels more than offsetting newbuilding deliveries. The fleet also grew in each of the larger dry bulk shipping sectors as newbuilding deliveries increased substantially and shipowners withheld ships sent to breakers (i.e., scrapping). China, the … [Read more...]
Reduced Expectations for Dry Bulk Shipping as Harvest Predictions Turn Negative
Dry bulk shipping was relying on a strong grain season in South America. Shipowners, investors and analysts, in particular, may need to reevaluate their expectations and forecasts. On March 12, this past week, Brazil’s government crop supply agency (“CONAB”) slashed its forecast for the 2013/14 soybean harvest by 5% to 85.44 million metric tons (“MMT”). CONAB noted that the … [Read more...]
Shipyards Incentivized: Expect Yards to Expand Orderbook and Maintain Production
Shipowners, investors and analysts, who have been expecting for some time to see the dry bulk orderbook, as well as the overall shipping orderbook, to decline and see less ships delivered, may be waiting quite a while longer. We have said many times that shipyards are not capitalist endeavors, but are socio-economic entities. These enterprises should be considered to … [Read more...]
Overcapacity Builds in the Dry Bulk Sector
The dry bulk shipping market continues to see the fleet and orderbook grow. In January 2014, the worldwide capacity of dry bulk vessels grew by nearly 8 million deadweight tons (dwt), increasing 1.1% in the first month of 2014. The increase in January of 116 new bulk carriers was spread across all dry bulk sectors - Handysize, Handymax, Panamax and Capesizes. By the end of … [Read more...]