MARKET FINALLY HEATING UP!
Concordia Maritime had predicted a strengthened tanker market and at the end of the third quarter, as well as in the beginning of the fourth, the upturn became clear. In addition, several basic structural factors indicate that the market will continue to be strong.
“All segments are now in a positive trend,” comments CEO Kim Ullman in the latest
interim report.
After several years with a weak market, the turnaround first came in the larger crude oil tanker segments, VLCC, Suexmax and Afromax. Then, after the end of the third quarter, the market also turned sharply upwards within Concordia Maritime’s main segment, MR product tankers.
“We’re now seeing the positive outcome of the driving forces we’ve been pointing to for quite some time,” says Kim Ullman. “This is all about stable demand for oil, increased American exports and continuously decreasing net growth in the tanker fleet. In parallel, installation of scrubbers on many vessels has reduced the total available fleet.”
Kim Ullman
The upturn has been further strengthened by the tense geopolitical situation. Among other things, this was manifested in the September attack on production facilities in Saudi Arabia and sanctions against both the Chinese shipping company Cosco’s tankers and against vessels loaded in Venezuela during the past year.
While positive market development came too late to significantly affect the figures for the third quarter, CEO Kim Ullman notes the upward trend in freight and is looking forward to the winter market, which is usually strong.
“We have smoothly functioning operations and are well positioned. Moreover, through a recently completed transaction regarding the outsourcing of three P-MAX vessels to a strategically important customer, we’re also securing employment and revenue. It gives us the opportunity to take new positions and further broaden our earning capacity.”
