Construction of ships to haul commodities rose to a record, helping to cut transportation costs for cargoes including coal, iron ore and grains, Clarkson Research Services Ltd. said. In the first five months of the year 429 vessels began trading, up from 388 a year ago, according to data on the website of Clarkson Research, a unit of the world’s largest shipbroker. The previous record for the period was set in 2010.
The global fleet of 8,446 bulk ships is growing nearly three times faster than demand for seaborne agricultural and mining bulk commodities, according to Clarkson’s data today. Cargo shipped on bulk carriers will rise by 4 percent to 3.43 billion metric tons in the full-year for 2011, while fleet capacity in the first five months of the year is 11 percent higher than it was in 2010, it said.
About 44 percent of all new ships that started trading in 2011 were bulk carriers, including 139 in May, Clarkson said.
The new deliveries and fewer orders cut the list of all ships scheduled to be built at the world’s shipyards to its lowest level since July 2006. There were 6,914 ships on the list, known in the industry as an orderbook, down 41 percent from the September 2008 peak, Clarkson said.
By Michelle Wiese Bockmann(Bloomberg)
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