SHIPPING CONFIDENCE HITS 3-YEAR HIGH
Shipping confidence reached its equal highest rating in the past three years in the three months to end -May 2017. The average confidence level expressed by respondents to the survey was up to 6.1 out of 10.00 from the 5.6 recorded in the previous survey in February 2017. Increased confidence was recorded by all main categories of respondent to the survey, which launched in May 2008 with an overall confidence rating of 6.8. In the case of brokers, the confidence rating rose from 4.6 to 6.4, while for owners the increase was from 5.6 to 6.1.
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WORKSHOP ON GST TO SENSITIZE MARITIME FRATERNITY
The Ministry of Shipping conducted a workshop on ‘GST for Shipping’ in New Delhi to sensitize all constituents of the maritime fraternity. The workshop was attended by representatives from ports, various attached and subordinate organizations under the Ministry of Shipping and Industry associations.
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LATIN AMERICAN BOX TRAFFIC IN FALL
The latest port ranking table published by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL) shows that container traffic in 2016 dropped by 0.9 percent, reinforcing the overall negative trend in recent years. Regional traffic fell by an average of 6 percent in 2012, 1.3 percent in 2013, 2.4 percent in 2014, and 2.5 percent in 2015. The downturn in 2016 was due to negative growth mainly in five countries: Brazil (-4.4%), Panama (-9.1%), Colombia (-3.6%), Argentina (-6.1%) and the Bahamas (-14.3%).
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POTENTIAL IMPACT ON SHIP SAFETY DISCUSSED
IBIA contributed to a discussion at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) last week regarding the potential impact on ship safety associated with meeting demand for fuels complying with the 0.50 percent sulphur limit that is due to take effect on 1 January 2020. The 98th session of the IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee (MSC 98) had two papers to consider on the subject.
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DRY BULK 2ND HAND VESSEL VALUES LOOKING FOR DIRECTION MOVING FORWARD
Second hand dry bulk vessel values are looking for direction moving forward. Shipbroker Intermodal has suggested that the summer season performance of the dry bulk market will be a major determining factor. In its latest weekly report, it is noted that looking back at March and April shipping reports when the dry bulk indexes were starting to move up, a number of shipping analysts were stating that this long awaited improvement was on the back of steadily improving fundamentals and that going forward the extensive volatility of the previous years would most probably wane.
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TANKERS & BULKERS IN DEMAND IN THE NEWBUILDING MARKET
Newbuilding ordering activity remains in high ground, especially when compared to the same period of 2016.
In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Allied Shipbroking noted that “we continue to see a fair flow of activity emerging once more this week, with a number of dry bulk and tanker contracts coming to light this week. Overall interest seems to have slightly eased however now something that may well lead to a drop in new ordering activity over the rest of the summer period.