George Economou's predictions for New Buildings

CEO of DryShips George Economou believes Asian shipyards that are active in the construction of bulkers may be forced to slash prices in the months ahead. George Economou pointed out that there is “ample” capacity in China since ordering has slowed.There will be price pressure on the newbuilding front] although I don’t see them going down by more than 15% over the next one or two years,”
George Economou said he isn’t surprised that no bulker orders have been sealed since last year, a trend driven by lacklustre freight rates and grim market forecast. George Economou also pointed out that he doesn’t expect to see shipyards in South Korea and Japan attempt to break back into the dry-bulk market despite the decline in orders for offshore support vessels and other types of sophisticated tonnage.
George Economou argued that a panamax might command as little as $25m to $27m going forward. If shipyards do get more aggressive with pricing in the months ahead George Economou estimated that the cost of a capesize bulker could fall to a low of approximately $48m.