ULCVs take the lead, says Vessels Value
According to information provided by the research and data mining company Vessels Value (VV), the containership market has shown some significant gains across both earnings and values, particularly in the Post Panamax and New Panamax segments.
Altogether, the USA-China trade war has had a negative impact on vessel demand. In terms of values, it has been very much a split market, with larger container vessels significantly outperforming the smaller types. Demand growth in terms of total teu capacity of the large container fleet in use has been strong. Over the past three months demand has grown by 2.3%, while the total teu capacity of vessel supply has increased by only 1.7%. This has certainly been one of the drivers for the significant rise in charter rates over that period.
However, on an annual basis, supply growth at 4.9% has outpaced demand growth at 3.3%. Over a five year period, demand and supply have been well balanced with demand growing at 33.5% and supply at 33.1%. Over the past three months, demand for Panamax containerships has grown at a healthy 2.1% while supply has shrunk slightly by 0.1%.
Nevertheless, over a longer history, the reverse is true with demand shrinkage generally outpacing supply reduction. Over the last year, Panamax teu demand has fallen by 5.6% while TEU supply has only dropped by 1.3%. Over the past five years demand has decreased by 36.6% while supply has fallen by a significantly lower 22.1%. (fd)