The ship recycling market activity has suffered even more this past week, as holidays combined with an overall lack of tonnage. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Clarkson Platou Hellas commented that “with the religious holiday of Eid being celebrated this week, the market basically ground to a halt as end recyclers had little appetite and willingness to acquire new tonnage, leaving cash buyers and industry players unable to build up any momentum or traction on the little available tonnage that was proposed by some puzzled Owners. With this sparse activity, it is safe to say that prices held firm as there was no mitigating factor to cause disruption to the local market. However, with the upcoming summer holidays and travel disruption over the past year, many Owners will be taking a welcome break over the next few weeks which could see a drier summer period than normal and one that will leave cash buyers empty handed if they do not grab the slender units that come to the bidding table. The nationwide lockdown restrictions in Bangladesh have been extended further until August 5th which may also weaken sentiment for the time being”, Clarkson Platou Hellas said.

In a separate report this week, GMS (www.gmsinc.net), the world’s leading cash buyer of ships said that “as the Bangladeshi market surpasses the previously unreachable threshold of USD600/Ton, the supply of tonnage appears to have dried up once again as the summer / monsoon holiday months continue at pace (& Eid holidays conclude this week). Several deals were reportedly concluded into Chattogram this week, at levels well above the USD 600/LDT mark. However, competing markets have yet to follow suit, with both Pakistan and India stranded some ways behind the market leader. A lot of the recent bullish optimism can be attributed to the fact that domestic construction projects are going ahead at great pace in Bangladesh, and China is still importing most of their steel in order to satisfy domestic demand. On the far end, Turkey remained closed for the entire working week, as Turkish Recyclers celebrated Eid.

Vaccine roll-outs continue across the globe as humanity learns to cope with Covid-19 (in addition to the now increasingly dangerous Delta variant) and this weekend saw some of the highest air traffic numbers in the U.S.A. and U.K., as attempts to get global travel back on its feet in the most vaccinated countries, finally steps up. Covid cases across the sub-continent show few signs of slowing. However, many are observing that the peaks have passed and a dire need for oxygen supplies to be re-directed to hospitals, is no longer as urgent a requirement as it recently was. As such, sub-continent recycling markets remain positively poised going into the second half of the year. Notwithstanding, there is always a note of caution for a market that has doubled in offerings in the space of a year as what goes up, must eventually come down!”, GMS concluded.

Meanwhile, Allied Shipbroking said in a different report this week that “activity remained subdued during this past week, with the summer lull seemingly dominating the market as of late. Nevertheless, the persisting uninspiring freight levels in the tanker market and the robust scrap pricing levels, are factors which are expected to boost interest once again in the coming weeks. On the other hand, the disruptions due to Covid-19 restrictions are likely to curb some of the potential activity. In Bangladesh, the Eid holidays further trimmed ship recycling activity in the country, albeit the overall sentiment has still remained robust amongst local players. The attractive offered prices and the availability of slots is expected to revive activity sooner or later. In India, inactivity prevailed, despite the improved local steel prices, with local breakers there still lagging behind competition. Meanwhile, the Indian Rupee regain some of its lost ground of the last few weeks, leaving an overall bittersweet taste. Finally, the firm fundamentals in Pakistan is anticipated to boost interest for demolition deals in the coming period, in contrast to the limited action being witnessed during the last couple of weeks”, the shipbroker concluded.

Nikos Roussanoglou, Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide