Dry Bulk

摘要

We expect charter rates for dry bulk vessels to decline moderately in January as the increase in deliveries will raise vessel supply over the next couple of months. Moreover, lower number of vessels are scheduled for scrubber retrofitting in 2021 than in 2020, lifting availability of vessels for chartering. Demand for dry bulk vessels will slow down briefly as the upcoming Chinese New Year holidays will reduce the momentum in industrial and construction activities, discouraging Chinese steel mills from importing iron ore for building inventories. The short-term sentiment is also not positive for the European market as the British government has recently imposed nationwide lockdowns due to the rising cases of infections in the country. If the new strain of COVID-19 spreads to other European nations and they are also forced to adopt similar measures, manufacturing activity in the region will be impacted. The ongoing uncertainty will also dissuade European steel mills from importing high quantities of iron ore, reducing the demand for dry bulk vessels. Their demand will also remain low on the Australia-China route since the dispute between Australia and China has not been resolved as yet with the latter continuing to restrict imports of coal from the former.