Trade war dims charter market sentiment
Owners pinning hopes on a late summer rate recovery will have to adjust their outlook following the news that there will be more tariffs on Chinese exports into the US as Donald Trump pursues his ambition of trading on a level playing field. Scrubber retrofits were expected to offer relief later in the year as the sulphur cap draws near, but lower volume demand on the transpacific could force owners to rethink tonnage deployment once more
Owners will have to withdraw transpacific capacity if proposed tariffs come into effect, leaving chartered tonnage due for expiry in 2019 heavily exposed, according to MSI analysts Daniel Richards