Since we last year described 2003 as a record year - what would be the proper term this year? We seem to be running out of superlatives. What shall we call a demolition market where the year began with prices just over USD 300/ldt, in itself historically high, then quickly shot up above USD 400/ldt, just to suddenly crash and within one week drop more than USD 100/ldt, before steadily climbing again and ending the year around USD 440/ldt? Nothing short of fantastic, exciting, inspiring - but also extremely dangerous for players who did not take every precaution against the many pitfalls. Nevertheless, the year offered enormously rewarding outlets for ship owners who had to let their ships go down that route; almost all in vain, we dare add. In competition with historically high freight markets and trading results which owners had only dreamt of before, very few found scrapping tempting enough, and sales activity remained very low throughout the year. Let us hope that when the time comes that owners no longer have this luxury of choice, that some steam is still left with the breaking industry and that todays prices are not just a vague memory of lost opportunities.
展开▼
