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China’s Imports of Commodities Drive a Boom in Dry-Bulk Shipping
China’s surging imports of metals, grain and other commodities are providing a boost to a bulk-shipping sector at the center of global industrial production.
Daily freight rates for capesize ships, the largest bulk carriers, jumped to an 18-month high this week at around $35,000 and the Baltic Dry Index, which tracks the cost of moving commodities by sea, pushed to a 10-year high of 2,808 on Monday.
“It’s been a spectacular period, which is very much off-season,” said Peter Sand, chief shipping analyst at maritime trading body Bimco. “Normally demand falls by around 9% from the fourth into the first quarter. We haven’t seen such demand in a very long time.”
Provided by Dow Jones
By Costas Paris The global shipping industry is hoping that President Biden s America is back declaration means the U.S. is returning to free-trade principles, and away from Trump administration protectionist policies that often dragged ocean vessels into efforts to enforce sanctions. The long-running trade dispute with China and sanctions on big oil producers like Iran and Venezuela have left shipping companies navigating a complicated and fast-changing web of financial and operating restrictions. This has left dozens of fully loaded ships idled for extended periods and their owners forced to scrap delivery contracts and pay high legal fees to avoid U.S. punitive actions.
Shipping Executive: We Can t Order New Tonnage While Carbon Rules Are So Uncertain
by Ship & Bunker News Team
Thursday January 21, 2021 Shipowners ordering new vessels today face a smorgasbord of options with little guidance over how their choice will be viewed in the decades to come. File Image / Pixabay A shipping executive has lifted the lid on the chronic uncertainty owners currently face over decarbonisation while pondering new additions to their fleet.
Hamish Norton, president of
Star Bulk Carriers, told a podcast this week that orders across the shipping industry were being held back by indecision over future regulation.
“ We re not brave enough right now to order a newbuilding in the face of environmental regulations that are clearly, let s say, unstable.