South Asia: Imported ship-breaking prices remain stable w-o-w
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South Asia's imported ship-breaking prices continue to remain stable. Over the past few weeks, the market has remained stable while tonnage levels have remained exceptionally low, as per GMS report.
Opening new letters of credit (L/Cs) for imports in Bangladesh and Pakistan is still quite challenging, which is a pressing concern for both sellers and cash buyers. The HKC green recycling yards have been thriving, though, and a few deals were concluded last week for both India and Bangladesh. High-profile sellers are only interested in HKC-approved recycling.
The Pakistan market continued to remain quiet while the Turkish market was sluggish ahead of the upcoming second round of presidential elections scheduled for 28 May.
India
The Indian market is weak and has remained over $50 behind Bangladesh in terms of prices. Interest for HKC green recycling has been slowly increasing in the market.
Deals: Gandria (29,500 LDT), LNG, was concluded for a decent $15.5 million for HKC green recycling only.
Last week, two vessels arrived at the Alang port, Maritime Lira (11,236 LDT), oil tanker and MSC Pilar (23,740 LDT), container.
On the domestic front, the Indian Rupee (INR) stood at 82.83 against the dollar during the first half of today's trading, depreciating slightly w-o-w compared to INR 82.29 last week.
The total tonnage at Alang Port last week was 36,738 LDT.
Bangladesh
In Bangladesh, the supply of tonnage has significantly slowed down while demand has firmed up. Driven by rising demand, a few deals were concluded recently.
Bangladesh's general budget will be placed on 1 June but the impact on the domestic ship recycling market is expected to be minimal.
Some end-buyers are opting to wait until after the budget before placing offers for the limited number of units currently available in the market.
Deals: Tian He Shun (7,450 LDT) and the Xiang Jiang 6 (7,290 LDT) both were concluded at $560/LDT.
The Bangladeshi Taka depreciated to BDT 107.81 at the time of reporting compared with BDT 107.40, last week.
The total tonnage reported last week at Chattogram Port was 32,255 LDT.
Pakistan
Pakistan remains embroiled in turmoil due to political uncertainty. Additionally, the country's economy is battling sharp currency devaluation which is pushing it to the verge of collapse.
Given this dismal state of prevailing affairs, Gadani is currently not a feasible market for ship recycling. Buyers are refraining from engaging in negotiations primarily due to the pervasive uncertainty prevailing in the country.
The Pakistani currency appreciated to PKR 286.78 during morning trade today compared to PKR 285.14 last week.
The total tonnage reported at Gadani Port last week was nil.
Prices in $/LDT
Source: SteelMint Research
