MARKET COMMENTARY
Bulkers:
On Wednesday, the BDI index has broken the psychological 1000 mark, and has slid to 963 points today.
Market sentiment slumped as even the last quarter of the year is failing to deliver. Despite the abundance of tonnage for sale in the market, there are very few buyers out there.
Shipowners who believed the numerous positive forecasts of shipping analysts that 2014 would be the turning point to recovery, are now disappointed and they are not having appetite to buy nor to inspect tonnage. On the other hand, we have few optimists, those who have chosen to enter the market this year with one or two ship acquisitions, lured by the low prices, some having been absent for five or even ten years.
We assume that these players are using their own capital, as financing remains scarce.
We understand that local and international banks here in Piraeus have again started to finance however they are extremely selective & cautious.
We are hearing that the available financing today ranges from a mere 20% to 40% for a ten to fifteen year old bulker and is usually given to existing clients.
The other active players in the market remain the IPO’s and the U.S. fund backed companies, taking advantage of the pressure on the asset values.
Japanese controlled cape CAPE HOPE II (170K BLT 2000 KOYO/JAPAN) is purchased by Greek buyers (clients of Navios) for $22-$22.5 mill, setting a new benchmark for this type/age. We understand that the one year younger cape KOHJU (172,498 BLT 2001 NKK/JAPAN) is neither sold or committed to any buyers, as she has been erroneously reported sold to U.S. based buyers (clients of CarVal Investors) for the past two consecutive weeks for $20 mill & $25.5 mill respectively.
Supramax
BULK LEO (55K BLT 2008 MITSUI CR 4X30T) attracted $20.8 mill by Greek buyers (clients of Almi), having been reported sold again back in July for $22.7 mill. Vintage handymax HAPPY SUCCESS (42K BLT 1991 OSHIMA/JAPAN CR 4X25T) is finally committed to South Korean interests for $5.9 mill, having being fixed and failed back in August to Chinese buyers for the similar price of $5.95 mill. In an off market deal, Greek controlled handymax PANTANASSA (39K BLT 1992 IHI/JAPAN CR 4X25T) went privately to Syrian buyers for the solid price of $6.2 mill.
Nineties vintage handy BALTIC ID (28K BLT 1997 IMABARI/JAPAN CR 4X30T) was snapped by Greeks for $7-$7.3 mill, setting a fresh benchmark, as the most recent reference was the late August sale of 3-years older unit THEOMITOR (28K BLT 1994 KANDA/JAPAN CR 4X30T) for $6.8 mill to Chinese.
Demolition:
Subcontinent markets remain firm, mainly due to speculative approach of aggressive cash buyers; Bangladesh prices remain stable due to backlog tonnage supply. Chinese rates continue to disappoint, however the forecast is positive for the end of this year. Turkish market continues its downward trend since last week, reflecting the depreciation of the Turkish Lira against the U.S dollar, and the Eid holidays this week.
Bulkers:
On Wednesday, the BDI index has broken the psychological 1000 mark, and has slid to 963 points today.
Market sentiment slumped as even the last quarter of the year is failing to deliver. Despite the abundance of tonnage for sale in the market, there are very few buyers out there.
Shipowners who believed the numerous positive forecasts of shipping analysts that 2014 would be the turning point to recovery, are now disappointed and they are not having appetite to buy nor to inspect tonnage. On the other hand, we have few optimists, those who have chosen to enter the market this year with one or two ship acquisitions, lured by the low prices, some having been absent for five or even ten years.
We assume that these players are using their own capital, as financing remains scarce.
We understand that local and international banks here in Piraeus have again started to finance however they are extremely selective & cautious.
We are hearing that the available financing today ranges from a mere 20% to 40% for a ten to fifteen year old bulker and is usually given to existing clients.
The other active players in the market remain the IPO’s and the U.S. fund backed companies, taking advantage of the pressure on the asset values.
Japanese controlled cape CAPE HOPE II (170K BLT 2000 KOYO/JAPAN) is purchased by Greek buyers (clients of Navios) for $22-$22.5 mill, setting a new benchmark for this type/age. We understand that the one year younger cape KOHJU (172,498 BLT 2001 NKK/JAPAN) is neither sold or committed to any buyers, as she has been erroneously reported sold to U.S. based buyers (clients of CarVal Investors) for the past two consecutive weeks for $20 mill & $25.5 mill respectively.
Supramax
BULK LEO (55K BLT 2008 MITSUI CR 4X30T) attracted $20.8 mill by Greek buyers (clients of Almi), having been reported sold again back in July for $22.7 mill. Vintage handymax HAPPY SUCCESS (42K BLT 1991 OSHIMA/JAPAN CR 4X25T) is finally committed to South Korean interests for $5.9 mill, having being fixed and failed back in August to Chinese buyers for the similar price of $5.95 mill. In an off market deal, Greek controlled handymax PANTANASSA (39K BLT 1992 IHI/JAPAN CR 4X25T) went privately to Syrian buyers for the solid price of $6.2 mill.
Nineties vintage handy BALTIC ID (28K BLT 1997 IMABARI/JAPAN CR 4X30T) was snapped by Greeks for $7-$7.3 mill, setting a fresh benchmark, as the most recent reference was the late August sale of 3-years older unit THEOMITOR (28K BLT 1994 KANDA/JAPAN CR 4X30T) for $6.8 mill to Chinese.
Demolition:
Subcontinent markets remain firm, mainly due to speculative approach of aggressive cash buyers; Bangladesh prices remain stable due to backlog tonnage supply. Chinese rates continue to disappoint, however the forecast is positive for the end of this year. Turkish market continues its downward trend since last week, reflecting the depreciation of the Turkish Lira against the U.S dollar, and the Eid holidays this week.
CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW TO READ THE FULL REPORT IN PDF FORMAT:
http://www.seanews.com.tr/reports/lion_10_october_2014.pdf