The World Dry Bulk Shipping Summit took place in London on 30 June – 1 July 2009.
One of the main points of discussion in the summit’s day one was dry bulk markets that have witnessed extreme volatility in the recent months. Issues of concern are the tremendous amounts of litigation disrupting these markets, strong fluctuations in the Baltic Dry Bulk Index, and uncertainty as to when the markets are likely to recover.
Another big subject of discussion was the outlook on the Asian economies and their impact on raw material demand. The Chinese economy in particular is striking due to its strength, stability, and potential demand growth. China has been one of the main drivers of the shipping and freight markets in 2009.
Another item on the agenda was further oversupply of new builds and consequent dampening of their prices.
Day two of the summit began with several speeches on the FFA market, its prospects, advantages and disadvantages, and hedging with FFAs and FFAs speculations on the freight market.
The summit closing speakers focused on litigation and legislation which today are very important issues as nearly every second charterer or ship owner has been involved in litigation while renegotiating charter parties, following failures to nominate vessels, or due to early redelivery of vessels.
We’ve found the summit interesting and informative. The majority of the subjects touched upon are the serious problem areas we face today due to the world’s economy and shipping markets downturn.