It was a very vibrant week for dry bulk second hand carriers with many deals being reported amid
intense interest from buyers, according to Allied Shipbroking. The shipbroker in its latest weekly report, said it witnessed several deals emerging last week with focus being spread across different size and age classes, depicting the overall bullish sentiment in the segment. “On the back of strong interest from buyers, asset prices made further gains last week. The current buying frenzy is expected to follow through over the next couple of weeks, while possibly even intensifying”
When it comes to newbuilding market, Allied Shipbroking that it was “a fairly active week for the newbuilding market, with orders being placed across all key sectors, but with containerships still holding the lime light. In the dry bulk market, current newbuilding prices, lack of favorable slots and concerns over a more “balanced” future market have retained buying activity at moderate levels so far.
Genoa-headquartered Banchero Costa in a separate note said that in the dry bulk market, “it was registered a busy week in the dry market with many sales reported in the Handy/Supra/Panama/ Kamsarmax segments and market prices still going up.”
Last month, the Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index hit its highest level in more than a decade thanks to solid demand across dry bulk vessels segments.
The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize shipping vessels, rose 54 points to 4,201 on Aug.24 , its highest since mid-2010.
Disruptions such as port congestion and global shipping constraints have contributed significantly to gains across the shipping sector.
Shipping companies have been dealing with the impact of supply chain disruptions since March of last year, when consumer demand slowed due to lockdowns and ocean liners were taken offline as manufacturers shut down. The shipping industry still hasn’t caught up with the surge in demand from reopened economies.
Southern California is dealing with a traffic jam unlike any other, As of Wednesday (Sept.22), 62 container ships were waiting offshore to unload cargo, according to the Marine Exchange of Southern California.
The queue is a result of COVID-19-related disruptions, and holiday-buying surges, paired with a national labor shortage. Port of Los Angeles data indicates that ships’ average wait times have increased to 8.5 days.
Prior to Covid-19, the ports typically had zero to one ships waiting to dock, according to Kip Louttit, the executive director of the Marine Exchange of Southern California.
California ports in Los Angeles and Long Beach account for about one-third of US imports.
“Part of the problem is the ships are double or triple the size of the ships we were seeing 10 or 15 years ago,” Louttit told Business Insider. “They take longer to unload. You need more trucks, more trains, more warehouses to put the cargo.”
