The BDI closed today (3/3/2023) at 1211 points up by 328 points. BCI closed on Friday at 1195 points up by 559 points increasing with 87.9% w-o-w. BPI closed at 1565 points up by 294 points increasing with 23.1% w-o-w . BSI increased 193 points and closed at 1189 points with increasing 19.4% w-o-w. BHSI increase by 79 points and closed at 584 points with increasing 15.6%.

SECOND HAND MARKET

Activity in secondhand sales remained healthy last week, showing signs of stronger buying appetite than the first few weeks of 2023. In the dry bulk sector, transactions posted a minor drop, with buyers being mostly focused on smaller vessels, especially Handysizes which were the main protagonists of last week’s SnP activity.

Typical Transaction

DEMOLITION MARKET

Last week a small number of materialized deals took place in the demolition realm. Breakers are mainly focusing on the container and dry sectors with the tanker market in good shape and secondhand prices still firm. In India, the government has decided to abolish a duty on imported vessels (3%) for breakers, which will remain in force until 31 March 2025. This should allow breakers to offer better prices and defend their market share from competitors such as Pakistan and especially Bangladesh, which is re-entering the market. The Indian rupee stands at 82.65 to the dollar, down slightly from last week. Pakistan has received a $700m loan from China and is on the verge of receiving another $6.5bn from the IMF as the government has taken some measures to qualify for such a loan. On the L/C front, some steel mills have been allowed to open L/Cs and local crushers are expected to do so by the end of March. The PKR is trading at 260 against the USD, continuing its slide on improved financial sentiment. In Bangladesh, there have been a few deals for smaller tonnage vessels as steelmakers look to stockpile as much steel as possible. The country is showing signs of strength as prices have reached levels close to 600/LDT, the most competitive among the major players. The financial situation is stable as remittances are still falling, but local breakers are managing to open L/Cs and buy vessels while the country is in talks with the IMF for a loan of USD 2-3 billion. In Turkey, the situation remains unchanged, with many mills still not operating at full capacity. This, combined with the rebuilding of the regions devastated by the earthquake, is expected to increase demand for scrap. Average prices in the different markets this week for tankers ranged between 340-585/ldt and those for dry bulk units between $330-570/ldt.

Typical Transaction

NEW BUILDING MARKET

Subdued newbuilding market activity materialized last week with only a handful of orders coming to light. The Greek owner Sea Pioneer ordered three 81,800 dwt bulk carriers at Oshima Shipyard to be delivered In 2025 and is believed to have cost the owners $38m each. The Abu Dhabi-based ABGC-DMCC ordered three 88,000 dwt VLGCs from Hyundai Samho, to be delivered in 2025 and 2026 for a price of $98.5m per vessel. On the Tanker front, the Japanese Shoei Kisen placed an order of four 50,000 dwt at the Japanese Minaminippon Shipbuilding. The ships are expected to be delivered in 2025 and the cost remained undisclosed.

NB Price Index                                                               Unit M USD

Typical Order

CHARTERING MARKET

SUPRAMAX: All-time high count of vessels heading to load and discharge countries in the North Atlantic. Coincident to this, demand is recovering strongly in Asia. This combination of increasing demand and a “wrongly” positioned fleet is what is causing the extremely sharp upturn. The 5-day change of the BSI10TC index was the highest ever as per yesterday’s index closing. Other than the count of vessels heading to the North Atlantic, we are yet to see all-time highs in any other indicator.

PANAMAX: The Panamax market continued to climb again for a further very successive week. Solid demand ex EC South America for March and April arrivals continued to lend support to much of the market in stark contrast to the North Atlantic where demand remains thin and early ballaster ships under pinned trades here. Asia again appeared well supported particularly ex Indonesia with strong demand for the smaller Panamax types, perhaps a reflection of a firming Supra/Ultramax market with Panamax tonnage making more commercial sense for now. Period news included the CL Mona (81,504/2013) Zhoushan 1 March fixed basis 6/8 months at USD 16,000 with Solebay.

CAPESIZE: There has been a massive push percentage wise the last week, and though levels itself not fantastic, the sentiment is very strong and market activity solid. The average of all time charter routs is up by 138% and we see the buildup of spot ships seen the last weeks dropping. For the week to come we expect a further increase, but hard to imagine it without some kind of breather.