• Investment World
• eWorld
• Brand Line
• Mentor
• Life
• Brand Quest
• The New Manager
• BL Club
• Smartbuy

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Cross Currency

• Rates
  
  

Shipping

• Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources
• In Focus
• In Depth
• Events 2007

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• The Hindu ePaper
• Business Line
• Business Line ePaper
• Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

The Baltic Dry Index, considered a signpost of economic trends as it tracks the cost of moving goods by sea across the world, has plunged 85 per cent from its peak in May to hit a six-year low, thanks to the slowdown of the global economy. No wonder, the share prices of some of the major shipping companies engaged in transportation of bulk items such as iron ore, coal and grains have dropped substantially in past few weeks. As Asian shipping trade too has suffered signific ant declines, particularly on the Asia-US and Asia-Europe routes, on top of higher operating costs, some of the Asian shipping lines, it is feared, may be pushed into bankruptcy. Idle vessels are now reported to be put to anchor, says Shipping Gazette. Container shipping has been hit by falling demand for Asian-made goods to the US and Europe and as a result, the Asian manufacturers of consumer goods for the US and Europe are lowering output, reducing demand for raw materials. According to one estimate, the demand for container shipping on the US-Asia route will drop by up to eight per cent in 2008. Asian ports too are doing badly. Reports suggest that Malaysia’s Port Kelang has recorded a drop in cargo volume since October, as have ports in Taiwan.

OUR BUREAU

More Stories on : Shipping/Ports

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line