A dip in bulker prices amid rebounding spot rates has fuelled buyer interest, with a string of transactions showing prices off their October peak but stabilising.
The Baltic Exchange's Dry Sale and Purchase Index posted its sixth straight weekly decline on Friday last week, as the secondhand price indicator slid to 32,827 points.
That was just 0.4% down on the previous week but a 3.2% drop from the apex on 29 October.
But in a reflection of how strong the asset market remains in the bulker sector, Friday's assessment was 59% higher than a year earlier.
Brokers in the US, UK and Greece reported that Johann MK Blumenthal of Germany has purchased the 82,200-dwt kamsarmax King Barley (built 2012) for $22.5m to $22.7m.
The ship, which Equasis lists in the fleet of Meiji Shipping subsidiary MK Centennial Maritime, was built at Tsuneishi Group (Zhoushan) Shipbuilding in China. It had just passed a special survey and had had a ballast water management system installed.
MK Centennial and Blumenthal did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Market watchers compared the price for the King Barley with the much higher $28.5m fetched in a reported October deal for the 82,937-dwt Ibis Wind (built 2013), although that ship was built at a Japanese yard whose vessels tend to have higher values.
But a bounce-back in the spot market that saw the Baltic Dry Index, a measure of dry bulk rates, rise from the mid-November nadir of 2,430 points to Monday's 3,216, is helping draw buyers into the sale-and-purchase market.
There are signs that values are stabilising.
The dry bulk asset price index by VesselsValue, a valuation platform backed by Seasure Shipbroking, reached $303.48 per dwt on Saturday, a jump from $264.99 per dwt a week earlier.
However, the index has dropped 12.1% since peaking at $345.22 per dwt on 19 October.
"Dry cargo charter rates have rebounded and there seems to be more buying interest, although price levels remain a bit lower than the October/November peak numbers," said Compass Maritime, a New Jersey S&P broker.
The buyer interest is a continuation of an upturn in sentiment reported by TradeWinds on 7 December, as Greek buyers staged a spurt in buying.
Among other deals that have since emerged, Compass reported that the 56,058-dwt supramax Feronia (built 2007), a product of Japan's Mitsui E&S Shipbuilding and controlled by Germany's Orion Bulkers, changed hands in a $16m deal.
That is down from the $17m to $17.5m price tag in October on the 55,900-dwt Atlantic Yucatan (built 2006), which was also constructed in Japan.
Orion Bulkers declined to comment on reports of the sale.
Several broking houses reported that the 180,200-dwt capesize Cape Treasure (built 2007), which is listed as owned by an affiliate of Japan's Keiyo Kisen, has gone to South Korean interests for about $21.5m, with a special survey due in February.
But the bulker, built at Japan's Koyo Dock, was worth $25.6m at its peak in late October, according to VesselsValue, which estimates it is worth $22.8m today.
A person who answered the phone at Keiyo, an Imabari-based shipowner to which eight vessels are attributed, declined to comment for this story.
Several press reports indicated that the Cape Treasure's buyer was H-Line of South Korea, but a senior management source there rejected the report, saying the company has no plans to purchase secondhand vessels.
Among handysize vessels, Greece's Newport SA reportedly paid $19.3m to $20m to buy the 38,221-dwt Clipper Bettina (built 2012), which was constructed at Shimanami Shipyard in Japan.
Brokers compared that with a $22m price tag in October for the 36,976-dwt Royal Justice (built 2012), also built at a Japanese yard.
The Clipper Bettina is controlled by Legend Star Shipping, a Singapore owner of two ships, and trades in the fleet of Clipper Group, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Newport declined to comment.
Harry Papachristou and Jonathan Boonzaier contributed to this story
