Clarksons: dry sales set record in 2016
Dry cargo sale and purchase activity reached a record in 2016, according to data from Clarksons Research Services.
According to MANA, The new high in the volume of dry tonnage traded was one positive benchmark in a year that saw numerous new records set throughout the shipping universe, according to the world's largest shipbroker.
Steven Gordon, managing director of Clarksons Research Services, says the 44 million deadweight of bunkers changing hands in 2016 was a new high and marked a 24% climb year-on-year.
It was a different story in the tanker sector, where both prices and sales volumes fell by one third from 2015 levels.
In a year that Gordon says saw lots of records, not all of which were welcome, newbuilding orders were down by 71%. Overall contracting was at the lowest level in 35 years, he explained.
Only 113 yards took new orders, according to Clarksons' figures, compared with 345 yards in 2013, Gordon noted.
Looking into 2017, Gordon said plenty of challenges remain "but let's hope we are not reporting as many gloomy records next year".