As top EU leaders also plan to meet with US president Trump on Monday and seek a path to end the Ukraine war, oil fell nearly 2% last week, reports cash buyer GMS.
It closing it out at $/barrel even though the easing of sanctions could see oil trade ease in the coming weeks and traders remained bearish about the future.
As oil becomes cheaper and tariffs / sanctions start to hit globally, the Baltic Exchange’s Dry Index saw another week of growth as it rose 0.25%, marking a 7.24% increase just this year and a near 21% growth compared to the same time last year.
“This clearly highlights how tonnage has been meticulously drip fed to the ship recycling communities all while newbuilding productions continue on, entirely stuffing the seaways of units that have long past their glory days, but are being dragged on by ongoing profitable gains,” says GMS.
“In the interim, Indian sub-continent ship recycling markets continue to struggle with this ongoing slowdown in the supply of meaningful units not only over these much-anticipated-to-be a busier summer 2025, but even since early 2024 has this situation remained grim.
“And while we are seeing a decent bit of tonnage coming into the various waterfronts (especially in Pakistan) of late, given how much these markets have suffered over the last six consecutive quarters, it makes the recent spate of recycling deliveries seem like delivering a ‘band-aid’ to a gun fight rather than offering a hospital-bed as long-term fix to the ongoing problem of an utter lack of tonnage.
“Notwithstanding, the ‘get what you can take’ attitude for most in the industry during these harsher times is sweeping the macro reality under the rug as recyclers get busy taking in units and even out prior losses.”
The slower time is providing the opportunity for non-Hong Kong Convention yards to become compliant with the new regulations which are still causing some confusion in the market.
Vessel offerings remain uncertain, as prices have declined over the recent past, particularly in Bangladesh where steel product continues to be stockpiled. Pakistan and India have seemingly stabilized at the current new lows, which today are about $60/LDT lower than the peaks seen earlier in the year when levels in the $/LDT were common place. This is over $/ton lower than the peaks of Jan 2024.
GMS demo rankings / pricing for week 33 of 2025 are:
