Shipowners looking to sell bulkers are hesitating after prices turned downward amid a falling spot market.
The situation has seen at least one shipowner pull back from a widely reported newbuilding resale, though some are still cashing in on profits with prices still well above the levels of this time last year.
Japan's Fuyo Kaiun has put an effort to sell a kamsarmax under construction in China.
Several brokers in Europe and the US had reported that the shipowner sold the 82,300-dwt vessel to an unnamed Greek shipowner.
But Captain Sachin Kumar, the company's group leader for operations, said the reports are not true.
"We checked market valuation and called it off eventually," he said.
The vessel is due for delivery in January from Jiangsu Yangzi-Mitsui Shipbuilding in China.
Brokers had said that the ship changed hands for $38.5m.
"This represents a softer price than would have been expected a couple of weeks ago based on recent comparable sales," Clarksons said.
Shipping databases provide no detail about how much Fuyo paid to order the scrubber-fitted newbuilding — identified as Hull No YZJ2015-2686 — but the shipowner would have likely still pocketed a profit on the deal.
The Clarksons Shipping Intelligence Network database shows it was ordered in August 2020, and valuation platform VesselsValue estimates the newbuilding would have been worth about $27m at that time.
The shipbroking giant said in its Shipping Intelligence Weekly report that declining freight rates are causing hesitation among would-be bulker sellers, although deals are still being done.
Data shows bulker prices have started to follow those spot rates downward after months of decline.
The Baltic Sale and Purchase Index last Friday posted its first weekly decline since November, dipping to 33,686 points from 33,926 seven days early on the back of price declines across all bulker sectors tracked by the market indicator.
As of Tuesday, VesselsValue's dry bulk index fleet was worth $323 per dwt, a one-week decline of 2.3% and a dip of 4.1% from a month earlier, although it was still 89.2% higher than this time last year.
Though several brokers said a smaller ship, the 30,000-dwt Ortolan Beta Strait (built 2010), had also changed hands in what would have been a profitable deal, that bulker also remains unsold.
The vessel, managed by Carsten Rehder Schiffsmakler und Reederei and owned by a company in which it is a shareholder, is not in the market for sale, said managing partner Thomas Rehder.
"Owners may review their position sometime next year, but for the time being have decided against a sale," he said.
Brokers had said that the ship had changed hands for $11.8m, below the $12.4m to $12.7m estimates put on it by VesselsValue and Maritime Strategies International (MSI), respectively. The ship fetched $6.1m in its last reported sale in April 2020.
Meanwhile, Japan's Toko Kisen sold its 61,700-dwt bulker Sunleaf Grace (built 2011) for $21.5m, on the basis of delivery to the undisclosed new owner in the second quarter of next year, several brokers said.
The price is somewhat lower than the $23.5m to $24.5m that the ship is estimated to be worth in a prompt transaction, according to estimates from VesselsValue and MSI.
Toko could not be immediately reached for comment.
