A total of 901 ships were ordered worldwide during the first half of the year, according to a new report from Golden Destiny.
These vessels total about 58m dwt and represent an increase of 6% compared to the relative period of the previous year, while orders in the second quarter of 2011 were 46% higher than the first quarter.
Although the ordering interest in the bulk carrier segment is down by 32% from 2010 levels, bulk carriers are holding the lion share, 38% of the total volume of newbuilding transactions, while containerships follow by grasping 25% and tankers only 7.4%.
“Newbuilding prices are still very alluring encouraging owners to proceed with the placement of new orders in segments where the ratio “orderbook to existing fleet” is lower and the demand prospects in relation to the overflow of ships is more positive.
In the tanker segment, expectations for more robust clean products and chemicals’ demand encourages the placement of new contracts more in the MR segment rather in the crude, while expectations for a firmer coal / grain demand make smaller size vessels, supramaxes and handysizes, more flexible type of newbuilding investment” said the Piraeus-based shipbroker.
It went on to mention that “despite the drop of the newbuilding activity witnessed in the bulk carrier segment during 2011, the total number of dry newbuilding orders placed since the recovery of the 2008 financial crisis is massive, taken into consideration the excessive number of orderbook, near to 50% of the existing fleet.
The total number of dry newbuidling orders during 2009-2010-2011 is estimated to be 1,646 units with the 2010 being a “record” year, as 1,054 new transactions were recorded, 276 units had been reported in the kamsarmax segment, 174 units in the supramax and 231 units in the handysize. During the period January-June 2011, only 71 units were reported in the kamsarmax segment, while the supramax and handysize segment seems still popular with 71 and 45 transactions reported respectively. Thus, it is clear evident that the kamsarmax ordering trend has faded, but there is still a large appetite for dry bulk newbuidling business” said the report.
In the container segment there has been a 976% increase in ordering business from a similar period in 2010 due to a massive post panamax ordering trend from major liner operators. “They feel that now is the time to invest in newbuilding units so as to explore the low levels that the yards are now offering. As we move towards the second half of the year, we feel that this shift in investors’ interest towards to more specialized units, gas tankers and container will persist, while ordering business in the dry and wet segment will follow a negative trend.
What is worth to emphasize is the strength of Chinese players in the newbuilding market versus the secondhand investments. Greek players are behind Chinese in terms of ordering business as Chinese have placed 144 new contracts during the first half of the year comparing to only 88 of Greek owners. Their strength is attributable to their confidence in the bulk carrier segment with 110 units ordered, up by 206% from the newbuilding activity of Greek owners who have proceeded in the ordering of only 36 units.
The strength of the ordering business by Chinese players can be explained by their target to control its massive raw materials by their own fleet in the future and their easy accessibility to the shipping finance from state owned Chinese Banks as a support to their domestic shipbuilding industry. In contrast with Chinese players, Greek owners have gained more confidence in the container segment by posting a 90% increase from the first quarter of 2011, while at a similar period in 2010 not even one order had been reported in this segment by Greeks” said Golden Destiny.