ATHENS: With end buyers in the sub-continent having essentially withdrawn any interest for obtaining new tonnage, the market is at a standstill with no reported sales for the last week.
There are still a few buyers out there mostly bargainhunters – who may be interested to provide a quote, however it becomes increasingly the case that the numbers involved would be much lower than the perceived market price.
Cashbuyers are also reluctant to offer unless they have a firm interest to back them. Most parties involved await the end of the monsoon season where hopefully interest will be re-ignited and some sort of normalcy is expected to return to the market. The situation has not changed in the Far East as well, with Chinese breakers continuously absent from the international market, being still focused on local/subsidized tonnage.