Strong recovery

Recent reports suggest a strong recovery is currently underway in the mid size dry bulk carrier market. This was further confirmed by industry specialists speaking at the “Drivers of the Bulk Market 2014” held at Bloomberg’s European HQ recently. The main headlines were: the dry bulk carrier market is forecast to reach 1.5bn tons in 2015; imports of iron ore to China are expected to rise by 17% in 2014 and a further 20% in 2015; handymax charter rates are set to increase by 40% in 2014 and a further 20% in 2015; while China GDP growth may be beginning to slow, import volumes are not slowing; although China is the main determinant of the dry bulk market growth, other countries are growing in importance; and while iron ore and coal represent some 70% of the total dry bulk market, grain is set to grow 10% in 2014.