Must-know: Dry bulk shipping players and performance
By Katie DaleOct. 15 2014, Published 11:57 a.m. ET
Dry bulk shipping industry
The dry bulk shipping industry is affected by numerous factors—like world economies’ growth and commodity supply and demand. Considering the various world economies, China’s economic growth rate impacts dry bulk shipper’s movement. China is an important commodity market.
The sell-off
Since the beginning of September 2014, dry bulk shipping companies—like Navios Maritime Holdings Inc. (NM), DryShips Inc. (DRYS), Knightsbridge Shipping Ltd. (VLCCF), and Safe Bulkers Inc. (SB)—have all suffered great losses.
NM fell by 47%. DRYS fell by 42.9%. VLCCF fell by 41.8%. SB fell by 35.8%.
The Guggenheim Shipping ETF (SEA) tracks a variety of major shipping companies worldwide. It fell by 17.8%. It underperformed the S&P 500. The S&P 500 decreased by 4.8%.
Important indicators
Why have these dry bulk shipping companies fallen so much over the last few months? What do the industry fundamentals look like? We’ll use key indicators to help us answer these questions throughout this series.
The dry bulk shipping companies transport dry bulk—like iron ore, coal, and grain—around the world using vessels.
China is one of the largest commodity importers in the world. China’s manufacturing and real estate sector remains a key driver of dry bulk trade throughout the world.
At an industry level, iron ore exports out of Australia and Brazil are key data points to follow. Since coal is used to generate electricity, we’ll take a look at China’s recent thermal power output trends.
To gauge industry players’ sentiment and expectations of the industry outlook, we’ll look at newbuild and second-hand vessel prices. We’ll look at the Capesize and Panamax vessels in particular. We’ll also look at ship ordering activities.
We’ll provide the Baltic Dry Index’s fourth quarter outlook. We’ll also discuss analyst opinions on dry bulks—provided by RS Platou.
We’ll start by looking at the Baltic Dry Index. It’s an Index that reflects the overall rate of transporting dry bulks on water.
Click here to learn more about the dry bulk shipping industry.
