A bumper year for bulk carrier sale-and-purchase deals has not prevented vessel prices from falling back, Clarksons Research has revealed.
The UK research arm of shipbroker Clarksons said there had been an easing of asset values since the summer.
The company’s secondhand price index for bulkers was down 1% in the week ending 23 September and off 14% from the middle of July.
Container ship secondhand prices are also dropping amid weakening freight and charter market conditions.
But Clarksons Research tallies a total of 1,688 vessels sold across all ship types so far in 2022.
This is already the third-highest total on record, after 2021 and 2007.
The company also noted “limited activity” in the recycling market in the past week as bulker freight rates improved again after recent weakness.
Capesize earnings were up 45% on Friday last week as China’s building sector showed signs of life.
“Scrap price indications remain firm, though problems in the Indian subcontinent region, including flooding in Pakistan and government-imposed financial restrictions in Bangladesh, continue to hamper demolition activity,” Clarksons Research said.
Demolition broker Ed McIlvaney logged a drop in prices for larger vessels, however, as finance for these have been limited by Bangladesh’s central bank.
Smaller ships in demand?
“However, small lightweight tonnage continues to capitalise on pricing, courtesy of the urgency being shown from the ship recyclers at the waterfront, where an increasing number of facilities are empty or near empty,” the broker added.
One notable vessel deal reported by brokers was the 75,000-dwt panamax bulker KG Asia (built 1999), sold on private terms by South Korea’s SW Shipping.
No final destination has been declared.
VesselsValue assesses the unit as worth $7.5m for scrap and $8m for further trading.
Cash buyer Best Oasis said Indian domestic scrap metal prices had softened this week on weakening end-user demand and rumours that vessels loaded with large quantities of scrap were arriving at the west coast of India.
“As Turkish scrap prices have plummeted, the Indian market has become a more attractive destination to send shiploads of scrap steel,” the company added.
The buyer quotes container ships as fetching $605 per ldt, with tankers on $575 per ldt and bulkers priced at $565 per ldt.
