Conbulkers “deserted” container trades

Conbulkers “deserted” container trades

Conbulkers “deserted” container trades

Conbulkers and large multipurpose ships capable of carrying bulk cargo as well as general cargo “have deserted the container trades,” said a report by AXS-Alphaliner on the widening gap between charter rates for containerships and bulk carriers.
   “Since August 2006, some 40 conbulkers and uncelled multipurpose units over 600 TEUs representing almost 50,000s TEU have left the liner trades and were replaced either by cellular tonnage or by other multipurpose ships displaced from other liner services,” the report said.
   The report notes some cargo has shifted from bulk carriers to containers.
   “Although hard to quantify, the shift of cargoes from bulk carrier to boxes has been more modest than one could expect when looking at the extraordinary divergence between box rates and bulk rates,” the report notes.
   Still, according to the most recent issue of Grain Transportation Report, a weekly publication of the Transportation and Marketing Programs/Transportation Services Branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, containerized grain shipments in August were up 123 percent from August 2006, and 229 percent above the three-year average. USDA cited statistics compiled by the PIERS service of the Journal of Commerce.
   The full AXS report can be found at: www1.axsliner.com/WWW/research_files/newsletters/2007/no47/AXS-Alphaliner-Rates-BDI.pdf