Share prices of dry bulk companies kept dropping during 2015, and, according to Drewry Maritime Equity Research (DMER), the market is not forecast to recover in 2016.

"We see no recovery in sight over the next 12-18 months because Chinese growth pangs will continue to haunt the dry bulk market and vessels will burn cash in 2016 as freight rates remain under pressure.

"Any improvement in vessel utilisation and earnings look set to remain elusive with little prospect of change in the foreseeable future," said Devanshu Saluja, Vivek Shah and Rahul Kapoor, analysts at DMER.

DMER has divided its dry bulk coverage universe into two buckets, one consisting of companies that are well positioned to weather the downturn, and the other including companies with higher embedded risk.