Clarksons says

New S&P Records Set in 2017

More bulker and boxship capacity changed hands than ever before last year with Greek owners most active, data shows.

News ID: 78016

Date: 07 January 2018 - 12:54

According to MANA, Sale and purchase markets saw record activity in 2017 with bulker and boxship capacity changing hands at previously unseen volumes, says Clarksons Research.

Provisional data from the world’s largest shipbroker shows vessels of a combined 93.2 million deadweight involved in S&P deals in 2017.

Steve Gordon, managing director of Clarksons Research, says this marks a 31% rise from 2016.

The new record puts the level of tonnage transacted above previous peaks of 84m dwt in 2014 and the pre-crash summit of 83m dwt set in 2007, Gordon explains.

Dry cargo sales broke the record set in 2016 when the lowest rates since the 1980s saw owners seek classic counter cyclical plays.

In 2017, 46.9m dwt of bulkers were purchased, a 4% climb year on year, Gordon notes.

In the broker's weekly report, Gordon says bulker prices turned up sharply during 2017, with a five-year-old capesize climbing by 38%.

Tanker sales, in a year marked by consolidation, were up 54% from 2016 at a time of modest price movements.

As TradeWinds has reported, containership sale and purchase activity passed the 1 million teu benchmark for the first time in 2017 during a year which saw excellent price gains.

Gordon notes the activity was significantly above the previous high of 642,000 teu in 2015.

Indeed there were three times the teu capacity sold relative to 2007 and 10 times the teu capacity sold relative to 1997, he told TradeWinds.

In deadweight terms, 289 container vessels of 13.2m dwt were bought and sold in 2017, up from 138 and 5.6m dwt the previous year, Gordon says.

Greeks were predictably at the top of the buyers and sellers lists, with a new gain of 2.4 million gross tonnes, according to Clarksons.

Chinese owners were also active growing their fleets, claiming second place on the buyers list ahead of the US and Norway.

Germany were the second most active sellers, with its owners seeing a net loss of 7.1 million gross tonnes overall, the data shows.

Japanese owners were the third most active sellers, disposing of 7.2 million gross tonnes, against the 0.6 million gross tonnes purchased.