Freight rates to stay low

The pace of handysize fleet growth will be moderated by the global economic crisis, a dry bulk freight analyst with Clarksons said.



Handysize vessels are under 40,000 DWT and are often used for shipping sugar, which accounts for about one per cent of the dry bulk seaborne trade, Exim News Service said.



Dry bulk fleet supply will grow year-on-year, but for handysize fleet, the growth will be relatively modest, he said. He forecast Handysize fleet growth at 3.4 per cent this year.



He also said that the scrapping of old ships, including handysizes, was speeding up because of the economic downturn.



Prices for scrapping handysize vessels were, however, still buoyant. If you scrap a Handysize vessel today, you will get about $ 2 million.



He expected freight rates to stay low in the coming years due to the slowdown, and advised the industry to be wary of the volatility in freight costs.

Source: Transportweekly