SCARY CONDITIONS: OCEAN FREIGHT BOOM STILL THREATENS FOREST PRODUCTS TRADE

摘要

THE HEADLINE in a respected shipping monthly screamed: 'Fasten your seatbelts!' That seems to sum up the current helter-skelter state of the international dry bulk market in which log exporters like New Zealand must peddle their commodities in competition with heavyweights like China and India. Dry bulk rates are at record levels, but will the boom continue? Horizon Shipbrokers Ltd says in a recent market report that although a correction is expected, no one is game to predict when it will happen. Khalid Hashim, managing director of Precious Shipping, a major owner of handysize log boat tonnage, says the market is more difficult to read than ever before.