"Cargill’s investment arm has been linked to the acquisition of a capesize bulker controlled by Sinokor Merchant Marine of South Korea. CarVal Investors as the buyer of the 178,900-dwt Silver Surfer (built 2013)."
The ship fetched $53.5m. CarVal caught a break but observers still believe the price tag tied to this transaction serves as further evidence that asset values in the capesize segment are on the rise.
The same contacts quick to point out that a Greek buyer paid roughly $51m to purchase the 180,000-dwt Blue Cho Oyu (built 2011) from South Korean interests just last week.
“Many brokerages are valuing five-year-old capes at $47m but these transactions suggest that this assessment is far too low," one source added. "If more capes changes hands in the coming weeks I wouldn’t be surprised to see the average for a five-year-old cape top $50m.”
Revelations about the MV Silver Surfer and speculation surrounding asset prices came on the tail-end of a week in which rates for tonnage trading in the spot market started to gain traction.
On Friday freight rates for capes topped $17,980, which is nearly 4% higher than yesterday’s average and well above levels seen three days ago, according to a leading industry forecaster.
While rates have been relatively low in recent weeks many forecasters believe capesize valuations have managed to hold steady because it is widely believed the market is going to rebound in the coming quarters.