Clarkson’s newbuilding price index is seen to have hit 126.3p as of the end of April, rising month-on-month by 0.7p. Recording 126.3p in late January 2013, the index rose to 126.4p at the end of February and fell to 125.6p in late March however it recovered surging to 126p in a month.
With new orders having recovered year-to-date, newbuilding values of some vessel types like capesize bulker are on the increase from the end of last year while some ship types are seen to have hit the bottom, according to Clarkson.
Benchmark newbuilding price of 180,000 dwt capesize bulker rose from $46m in late 2012 to $47m by the end of April and the one of 57,000 dwt bulker also saw a slight increase during the same period from $24.3m to $24.5m.
As for containership sector as well, the value of 8,800 teu increased from $76.5m to $77.5m together with 3,700 teu from $36.8m to $37m.
Meanwhile, the LNG carrier benchmark newbuilding price was recorded to be $198m as of the end of late April, plummeting to a historic low.
Clarkson said that orders for 436 newbuildings of a combined 30.4m dwt were contracted year-to-April, showing a sharp rise of 65% from 432 vessels of 18.5 dwt recorded during the same time period of last year.
With recovering investment in commercial vessels this year, such as large bulker and etc. order contracts are seen to have greatly increased in dwt terms. During the period from January to April, orders for capesize bulker rose by 144% year-on-year, very large crude oil carrier (VLCC) saw a 227% rise and 25 large containers above 8,000 teu were ordered showing a remarkable contrast from zero order contracted during the same period of last year.
Newbuilding deliveries year-to-April were recorded to be 677 vessels of a combined 45m dwt, declining by 26% year-on-year and this represents the lowest total during the same period since 2009 in numerical terms.
Global newbuilding orderbook as of the end of April is seen to have stood on 4,391 vessels of 240.9m dwt, falling 9% comparing with early this year. Around 49% among the vessels are planned to be constructed and delivered within this year with 33% to be in 2014 and 15% in 2015.
Meanwhile, during the first four months of this year, a total of 340 vessels of 15.7m dwt have been sent for scrapping facility, showing a year-on-year decrease of 32% from the same time period of last year.
Source: http://www.asiasis.com
