Page 24: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (June 1999)

Market Reports

Age Profile For Bulk Carriers (Mill. DWT - Jan. 1, 1999) 10-49,999 50-79,999 80,000+

Total -78 40.5 12.5 5.4 58.4 79-83 17.3 13.1 10.9 41J

Year built 84-88 20.8 9.2 13.9 43.9 89-93 6.9 7.9 17.9 32.7 94-98 30.1 23.0 29.5 82.6

Total 115.6 65.7 77.6 258.9 source: The Platou Report imports of grains to Asia.

The dry bulk fleet increased by two percent from 1997 to 1998, calcu- lated on a yearly average basis. A further reduction of combined carriers in dry trades resulted in 1.8 percent increase in the total active dry bulk fleet. The active

Handysize fleet increased by 1.9 per- cent, while the operating Panamax fleet expanded by five percent. The Capesize fleet was reduced by 0.7 percent result- ing from more scrapping than deliveries.

Deliveries of bulk carriers totaled 1.5 mill, dwt during 1998, while 0.5 million dwt of combined carriers were convert-

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E-Mail: [email protected] ed to pure bulk carriers. Deletions of bulk carriers amounted to 12 milion dwt. Consequently, from year-end to year-end, the fleet size remained basi- cally unchanged.

According to R.S. Platou's prelimi- nary assessments, the capacity utiliza- tion rate for the active dry bulk fleet fell by approximately three percent from 1997 to 1998, calculated on a yearly average basis. Seaborne transportation of steam coal is still expected to increase further in the coming years. It will be driven mainly by wider use of coal burning for energy production, par- ticularly in Asia. The latest predictions for the grain trade indicate relatively small changes in the overall volume over the next year. Slightly lower imports are expected into Far Eastern and African countries, while higher imports are forecast into the Middle

East and the CIS/Baltics.

The prevailing assumptions for eco- nomic growth indicate a further slight increase in consumption of paper during 1999. A slightly greater demand for sea transports of paper and pulp products would therefore seem realistic. In addi- tion, in a move to protect the environ- ment, China has initiated restrictions on wood harvesting as from late 1998.

The preceding was excerpted from The 1999 Platou Report.

Bulk Carrier Fleet (Mill. DWT)

Existing Lay-up Bulk Combined Operating

Year fleet carriers in dry dry bulk operating fleet 89 ...196.9.. .. .0.5 . 196.4 19.7 216.1 90 .. .202.5 .. ...0.5 . 202.0 22.1 224.1 91 ...210.8 .. .. .0.7 . 210.1 18.2 228.3 92 .. .214.8 .. .. .1.4 . 213.4 16.9 230.3 93 .. .215.0 .. ...1.6 . 213.4 16.1 229.5 94 .. .219.0 .. ...1.5 . 217.5 13.9 231.4 95 .. .225.5 .. ...1.3 . 224.2 15.2 239.4 96 .. .237.3 .. ...1.1 . 236.2 14.1 250.3 97 .. .247.7 .. ...0.9 . 246.8 9.5 256.3 98 .. .258.9 .. ...1.0 . 257.9 7.0 264.9 99 .. .258.9 .. ...1.5 . 257.4 5.3 262.7 source: The Platou Report

Bulk Carriers Sold

For Scrapping (Mill. DWT) 10-49,999 50-79,999 80,000+ Total 89 0.4 0.1 0.0 0.5 90 0.4 0.0 0.2 0.6 91 0.4 0.5 1.4 2.2 92 1.1 0.7 1.9 3.7 93 1.2 1.0 1.5 3.7 94 1.2 0.9 1.9 4.0 95 0.6 0.4 1.3 2.3 96 2.3 2.5 3.3 8.0 97 2.8 1.5 3.2 7.5 98 3.9 3.3 4.4 11.6 source: The Platou Report

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