Market analysis
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Around the world in seven shipping records
The container and dry bulk shipping industries are breaking new records left, right and centre it appears, resulting in dry bulk owners enjoying unseasonably high profits, and container shipping carriers and tonnage providers delivering record high profits.
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Container shipping: Records keep falling as industry enjoys best markets ever
Demand drivers and freight rates Driven by the pandemic and stimulus-induced consumer spending on retail goods, container shipping has been a great place to be for carriers and tonnage providers, while proving a headache for those with cargoes needing to be moved in a timely manner.
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Tanker shipping: Temporary shocks provide little support for desperate tanker market
Demand drivers and freight rates A recent small and short spike in oil product tankers shows just how far the tanker market still has left to go on its recovery journey.
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Dry bulk shipping: record-breaking start to year drives earnings to decade highs
Demand drivers and freight rates The first four months of 2021 have been record-breaking in volume terms, with demand reaching 1.69 billion tonnes – the highest-ever start to a year. Volumes are up 6.1% compared with the same period in 2020, and only slightly down from the 1.72 billion tonnes in the final four months of 2020.
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Macroeconomics: pandemic disruption hits supply chains as multi-paced recovery takes hold
Despite diverging pandemic paths in the world, global growth is forecast to reach 6% this year, according to the International Monetary Fund, following a 3.3% contraction last year. There are, however, still plenty of downside risks, especially as parts of the world are facing their worst coronavirus outbreaks to date and the prospect of a large part of the global population being vaccinated is still a long way off.
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Container ships drive 119% jump in total new orders in first five months of 2021
Total orders of dry bulk, tanker and container ships in the first five months of the year have jumped 119.7% compared with the same period in 2020, primarily driven by record high container ship contracting, as investors in this segment find themselves flush with cash.
Related event
37th Asia Pacific Petroleum (APPEC 2021)
- 27 September, 2021
Peter Sand will speak about “Seaborne shipping and global oil trading in a post-COVID cycle”.
Shipping Markets Checkpoint Season 2 - Special Guest Speaker: Jochen Gutschmidt
Peter Sand is joined by Jochen Gutschmidt for the final episode, which focuses on container shipping. Sand and Gutschmidt look into the somewhat crazy and out of control container shipping market. Commodities moved in a box have dominated much of the conversation in 2020, and here is the perfect opportunity to dive down into how, why and where it is going. The two look both on commercial (procurement) and operational (management and optimization) trends. Spanning across short and long-term analyses, giving the viewer insight into the short-term markets and a unique look into the experts forecast for the future.
BIMCO Q2 2021 Market Analysis Webinar
The pandemic is still wreaking havoc in large parts of of the world, and while the tanker market is hurting badly, the companies in the container shipping sector are making record profits. In dry bulk, rates are at a 10-year high. But how long will this situation last, and what disruptions to the current state of the market should you keep your eyes out for?
That question, and many others, BIMCO’s chief shipping analyst, Peter Sand, tried answer on 2021’s second instalment of BIMCO’s Shipping Market Overview & Outlook.
Stay up to date
June 2021
Around the world in seven shipping records
The container and dry bulk shipping industries are breaking new records left, right and centre it appears, resulting in dry bulk owners enjoying unseasonably high profits, and container shipping carriers and tonnage providers delivering record high profits.
Container shipping: Records keep falling as industry enjoys best markets ever
Demand drivers and freight rates Driven by the pandemic and stimulus-induced consumer spending on retail goods, container shipping has been a great place to be for carriers and tonnage providers, while proving a headache for those with cargoes needing to be moved in a timely manner.
Tanker shipping: Temporary shocks provide little support for desperate tanker market
Demand drivers and freight rates A recent small and short spike in oil product tankers shows just how far the tanker market still has left to go on its recovery journey.
Dry bulk shipping: record-breaking start to year drives earnings to decade highs
Demand drivers and freight rates The first four months of 2021 have been record-breaking in volume terms, with demand reaching 1.69 billion tonnes – the highest-ever start to a year. Volumes are up 6.1% compared with the same period in 2020, and only slightly down from the 1.72 billion tonnes in the final four months of 2020.
Macroeconomics: pandemic disruption hits supply chains as multi-paced recovery takes hold
Despite diverging pandemic paths in the world, global growth is forecast to reach 6% this year, according to the International Monetary Fund, following a 3.3% contraction last year. There are, however, still plenty of downside risks, especially as parts of the world are facing their worst coronavirus outbreaks to date and the prospect of a large part of the global population being vaccinated is still a long way off.
May 2021
Container ships drive 119% jump in total new orders in first five months of 2021
Total orders of dry bulk, tanker and container ships in the first five months of the year have jumped 119.7% compared with the same period in 2020, primarily driven by record high container ship contracting, as investors in this segment find themselves flush with cash.
Oil product tanker demolition on track to break 11-year record
In the first four months of 2021, the amount of oil product tanker capacity that has been sent for demolition has already reached the total amount of demolished capacity in each of 2019 and 2020 due to unfavourable freight rates. If that pace continues for the rest of the year, an 11-year record is set to be broken.
Join BIMCO for new episodes of “The Shipping Markets Checkpoint”
In response to the numerous challenges arising in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, BIMCO launched a webinar series in the autumn of 2020. The series offer insight from industry experts who join the webinars to share their knowledge and debate what lies ahead for commercial shipping markets.
April 2021
High-sulphur fuel oil sales rebound after pre-IMO 2020 correction
In the first quarter of 2021 high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) has been the only bunker fuel to experience year-on-year growth in Singapore, the world's largest bunkering hub.
Longer sailing distances cushion fall in US crude oil exports
Tonne mile demand generated by US crude oil exports has fallen by 9.7% in the first two months of 2021 compared with the start of 2020.
