New Orders Container
Compared to the previous reporting period, contracting activity in the new building market for container[ds_preview] vessels increased. In the second half of December, the orders only applied to smaller vessel types in the range between 640 and 2,700TEU. Quanzhou Ansheng in China ordered twelve 640TEU vessels for a total of 118 mill. $. French CMA CGM contracted three 2,200 TEU vessels at Chinese Yangzijiang for 29 mill. $ each.
In the first half of January only one order was placed. Japan’s Shoei Kisen ordered ten 11,000TEU vessels at Imabari with prospects on the construction of ten more.
Secondhand Sales Container
Activity at the secondhand market for further trading container vessels picked up and was dominated by the feeder segment. MPC Container Ships AS acquired the three Aker-built »Baltic CS 2700 types« from Reederei Harmstorf for 31.9 mill. $. Furthermore, the Oslo-based ship investment company bought the 987 TEU vessel »Annika« and the 1,049TEU vessel »Antigoni«. The price for the vessels is said to be 16.1 mill. $.
In the bigger segments, only three transactions were concluded. One transaction included two 2015-built 9,962TEU boxships, purchased from Greek owner Oceanbulk Container Carriers, as well as a newbuilding with a capacity of 11,000TEU, scheduled to be delivered in the first quarter of 2018. The ships were acquired by Danish investment company Navigare Capital Partners for a total price of 200 mill. $.
Demolition Sales
The world market price for iron ore continued its upward trend in the second half of December and the first half of January. During the last couple of days, prices around 77$ per ton were achieved. In line with these developments, scrap prices are still oscillating above 400$/ldt – even though recycling activity remained low. Within this period of time only two vessels were sold for scrap.
