Exactly three months ago on 02 December 2022 a different scenario was in the cards with the market slightly buoyant (the BDI at 1,324 points) bringing some hope, but …the Gods of the Seas had other plans… The BDI fell spectacularly given the collapse of the Capes… and bottomed out at 530 points on Thursday the16 February… The Wets tried hard by the expected Clean surge (given the 1,806 points on 2 December 2022) which oddly enough ended down to a catastrophe so to speak and today same reads 789 points… The Geopolitical scene got worse and a full year of despicable events in Ukraine marked the madness of our leaders – yes I do include all as there is a way out, unless they stick to the old Greek maxim: “War Father of all”, to which I have always added: “… if you don’t destroy, you cannot rebuilt”, and overdo it… Nukes are on the cards, but who will dare press the button given what will follow, unless “he” is a psychopath loosing his mind… Caution! John Faraclas’ daily, weekly and 90 days recap:
The Capes and Panamaxes were the drivers of this pre-Easter surge, bringing the BDI up 66 points since yesterday at 1,211; on a weekly basis the BDI was up 328 pints from 883 last week (24/02), conquering the 900 up to 1,200 points threshold…
The Capes’ BCI was up 195 points since yesterday at 1,195 – up 559 points since the 24/02 when it stood at 636 points breaking the 700 up to1,100 points threshold…
The Panamaxes’ BPI was also performing well ending up at 1,565 – plus nine points since yesterday and 294 points since the 24/02 when same stood at 1,271 – winning the 1,300 to 1,500 points threshold…
A minor hiccup for the Supras’ BSI loosing three points and now reading 1,189; same was up 193 points since the 24/02 when it stood at 996 surpassing both the 1,000 and 1,100 points threshold…
Not bad for the Handies which gained nine points since yesterday and now stand at 584 points. Mild weekly gains since last week’s 505 points – up 79!
The Wets remain enigmatic; the last published BDTI (Dirties) and BCTI (Cleans) stood at 1,483 – up 11 and 780 – down 14 respectively. The weekly score was 145 points plus for the Dirties – up from the 1,338 points on 24/02 and down 206 for the Cleans from 955 on 24/02… Caution!!
On the Ship Sales and Purchase front, expect a newbuilding boom given energy and environmental issues… Slow steaming in my humble view, is NOT the answer. The reliance on fossil fuels has become a huge problem. Meeting the IMO targets on time, sounds too difficult, given political and geopolitical reactions. The blame game must stop!!!
The WTI stood at US$ 79.68 – up US$ 1.52 from yesterday’s US$ 78.16; on a weekly basis same was up US$ 3.36 – from US$ 76.32 last week. CAUTION as there is no compatibility with the energy situation. Too many clever dicks around… Dreadful !
The FTSE100 closed up 3.07 points at 7,947.11 – from yesterday’s 7,944.04 and 66.45 since last week. 390.88 plus points were recorded since 02 Dec 2022. Also, worth noting a record for FTSE on 20 Feb 2023 when it went over and above the 8,000 threshold at 8,014.31!
The Dow Jones was up at 33,390.97 – that’s 429.48 points plus since yesterday and 574.05 plus since last week’s 32,816.92. On the 13th of January we witnessed 34,302.61!
The NIKKEI was up 429.60 at 27,927.47 – from 27,498.87 yesterday. Same was 473.99 points up since last week’s 27,453.48. On 02/12 the NIKKEI stood at 27,777.90 – stability at its best…
The Euro – USDollar parity stood at 1,0648 – that is 0,0050 plus. On a weekly basis same was up 0,0065 – from 1,0583. On the 2nd of Dec 2022 the parity stood at 1,0535. FYI, the lowest level was recorded on the 27 Sept 2022 when 1 euro was US$ 0,9597… You can now make your assumptions…
On the Geopolitical front since the 2nd of December 2022, we had the “anniversary” of the despicable war in Ukraine on 24th of Feb 2023 with no end in sight, given what takes place from both sides and their allies…
For a start and with respect to shipping, sanctions don’t work… There will be more mess if one tries to fully implement same as not only there are loop holes, but other means and reactions… Caution. The UN has also failed spectacularly in stopping this mess and the Russians will continue until they flatten out Ukraine, unless… Ukraine’s supporters do their best but the real action and support is far away. Seems that we might see a spill over and a wider catastrophe… as in previous reports and over the years now, we have mentioned numerous time the faulty line from Gib to Afghanistan – now extended to Vladivostock and from the Caucuses down to the Horn of Africa…
The biggest though issue though all over Planet Ocean remains the MIGRANTS. It is not only those coming over to Europe via the Greek Islands and Greece’s mainland from the Anatolian coast of Turkey or from North Africa to Italy and Spain, as well to Malta, but those in thousands coming over from the French coast to the United Kingdom crossing the straits of Dover… The Rwanda affair speaks alone… Mexico too has issues with the USA as the Migrants continue their activities… MIGRANTS every where suggesting the failure of democracy in many nations… We have extensively covered this MIGRANTS despicable issue and once and for all we urge: “A Naval blockade, with a Mandate and Rules of Engagement” being the only way to stop it. The social cohesion in many countries, particularly in Europe is about to be permanently broken…
Turkey’s odd behavior towards its neighbors, seems to slow down, given the catastrophic earthquakes in the region of the Turkish – Syrian borders, in Hatai mainly.
The province of Kahramanmaras was the worse hit. The earthquake affected the neighboring provinces of Adıyaman, Kilis, Osmaniye, Gaziantep, Malatya, as well as Şanlıurfa, Diyarbakır, and Adana. On the 6th of February, daybreak a 7.8 R earthquake and others which followed on the same day – one was 7.2 of the Richter Scale demolished the area bringing the death toll to over 55.000 and thousands still missing. Thousands of buildings collapsed and nearly 20 (twenty) million people are affected. The entire Planet Ocean rushed to help both Turkey and Syria. Many buildings in Turkey were not build as they should had and over 100 civil engineers and architects tried to flee the country but the authorities arrested all of them. None from the Turkish government resigned… It remains to be seen how president Erdogan and his coalition government will tackle this issue of the displaced and suffering people which includes over 1,4 million children and with the elections possibly by end of April or May 2023 coming up, his order and tenure after 20 years might come to an abrupt end… Watch this space…
In neighboring Greece, a passenger train from Athens going north to Thessaloniki collided with a commercial train coming south, being on the same truck, off Evangelismos village at Tembi, Larisa, Central Greece. A death toll of over 56 – per government news and dozens injured, brought people in every corner of Greece to the streets demonstrating. It was disaster waiting to happened and we fully condemn all governments over the last 25 years for the state of the railways; end of the story. The minister for transport resigned… The current government of Nea Demokratia might face the wrath of the public in the coming general elections which were scheduled for early April… Greece’s PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis has a Herculean task… The Greek opposition on the other hand must see their own despicable record on the issue… For the shake of good order, remember the oil spill in the Saronic Gulf on the 10th of September 2017 by a small tanker… A thorny issue for Syriza… In all earnest, the Saronic Gulf still tries to recover…
Moreover we had the Qatargate – as same is named, scandal in the European Parliament with Belgian, Italian, Greek and other nationalities’ involvement and we all await the outcome… some MEP’s are in jail, others with an electronic tag and others collaborating with the judicial… What a shameful situation… SHAME!!! One day same will become the top movie breaking the box-offices all over Planet Ocean… Watch this space… Ah, Argentina won the soccer World Cup the on 18 December in Qatar after beating defending champions France 4-2 in penalties after a draw 3-3 at the end of extra time at Lusail Stadium!!!! It was Argentina’s third title!
Xi Jinping goes for sure for a third term as China’s superior leader… Taiwan though will bother him as the USA is not going to back off; two fronts look most likely for the Americans and their allies to defend: Taiwan and South China Sea… if the USA goes to war over Taiwan, Ukraine will look a kindergarten…
North Korea pushes its luck too far… American have also ballistics and can end them in seconds…
Mind the Israeli – Palestinian on going mess…
Iran goes beyond pragmatism on many issues… Time for Tehran to reason with reality.
Macron has too many issues in France; Pensions are crucial and the age issue a MUST to be resolved…
In general, Europe must get its act together and search for a leader to enable be on par with the USA and the other two superpowers…
Hope we shall have a good post BREXIT re-deal with UK and its Northern Ireland issue… Very complicated “commercial”… and “trade” politics… Can PM Sunak deliver?
Africa in disarray on all fronts; the proxy business wars continue…
Australia very quiet…
Finally, USA’s president Joe Biden reasserts everything these days… let’s see his leadership; after all he is a maverick!
Brazilian president Lula tries his best; let’s see the end result…
Covid still in the background… CAUTION, it’s NOT OVER!!!!
The weather wasn’t bad, exceptionally favouring all of us, especially in Europe… Cross your fingers though as the energy issue will continue…
On another tone, the HESGB 28th Annual Dinner and Dance was more than a success on the 25 of February at the Grosvenor House in central London!
Coming up next week, on the 8th of March, the International Women’s Day; lets see how women and in particular those in Shipping, take the helm and contribute to Planet Ocean’s big change on all aspects. Watch this space!!
Have a nice evening and weekend but continue to remain on guard from actions emanating from Pirates – still around, Terrorists – again still around, Criminals and any Business Hooligans whatsoever wherever you are on Planet Ocean. A big THANKS to all still fighting the Coronavirus anathema. Let us work collectively and restart Planet Ocean, now in debt over US$ 400 (four-hundred) trillion!!! We are in Recession and together with Inflation the situation will hurt all of us!!!
