South Asia: Scrapped ship imports plunge 43% y-o-y in H1 CY'20

In the first half (H1) of CY'20, a total of 183 ships were demolished in India, Bangladesh & Pakistan, according to the provisional data maintained with SteelMint stats.

The total quantity breached in Alang Port (India), Chittagong Port (Bangladesh) & Gadani Port (Pakistan) was recorded at 1,451,931 LDT (183 ships) in H1 CY'20 which is a fall of 43.14% y-o-y as against 2,553,932 LDT (267 ships) in H1 CY'19. Also, the same plunged by 18,725 LDT in H1 CY'20 compared to 1,470,656 LDT in H2 CY'19.

• Bangladesh, one of the largest ship recyclers that often grabs the top position in ship breaking scrap, slipped in H1 CY'20. The total volume of ships demolished in the Chittagong port was marked at 697,570 LDT (74 ships), down by 60.88% y-o-y as against 1,783,417 LDT (156 ships) in H1 CY'19.
  
  
• The fall in imports was attributed to sharp jump in its bulk ferrous scrap imports, which grew by 65.82% to 1,161,338 t in H1 CY'20 as against 700,388 t in the same time last year. COVID-19 fears somehow pulled down scrapped ship imports in Apr'20 as labor availability remained the biggest concern amid lockdown.
  
  
• In India, 89 ships of 616,111 LDT were demolished in the Alang port, down by 14.31% y-o-y in H1 CY'20 compared to 96 ships of 719,035 LDT in H1 CY'19.
  
  
• In Pakistan, imports rose to 138,250 LDT with 20 ships y-o-y in H1 CY'20 as against 51,480 LDT, 15 ships in H1 CY'19.