J. Lauritzen: Dry Cargo Markets Show No Signs of Recovery for an Extended Period

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Monday November 16, 2015

Danish owner J. Lauritzen A/S (J. Lauritzen) says that its downbeat result for 2015's third quarter echos the dire state of the dry cargo markets, which it does not expect to recover for some time.

"The dry cargo markets have shown no signs of recovery during Q3. A lack of demand growth in combination with deliveries of new tonnage will make this the reality of the market for an extended period," said Jan Kastrup-Nielsen, J. Lauritzen's President and CEO.

"Our Q3 result in dry cargo is as expected and a reflection of these market conditions."

A third consecutive quarter in the red, with a result for the three months of negative $16.09 million, put the total loss for the first nine months of 2015 at $-160.7 million, a significant turnaround from the $16.3 million it posted for the period in 2014.

The company attributes the reversal to "the extraordinary weak dry cargo markets," as well as other factors such as impairments, discontinued operation, and its exit from the capesize bulk carrier segment.

Cash reserves were noted to have more than halved to $128 million, from $284 million at year-end 2014, while guidance for its full-year net result remains at negative $170 million - $200 million.

In August, Kastrup-Nielsen remarked that "the dry cargo markets encountered during the first half of 2015 were the weakest for the last 30 years."

Ship & Bunker News Team
To contact the editor responsible for this story email us at editor@shipandbunker.com