"No V-Shaped Recovery? Cargo Vessel Calls Plunge At Singapore Port To Three Decade Low"
From ZeroHedge:
Singapore's geographical location makes it one of the most important
maritime trade lines connecting the global economy. It's home to one of
the largest ports in the world, on par with ones seen in Hong Kong,
London, Shanghai, and Dubai. Port activity data via Singapore's
government is suggesting world trade has yet to recover, which means a V-shaped recovery in the global economy is unlikely in the back half of the year.
New data from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA)
shows the number of vessel callings (otherwise known as port of call
-- an intermediate stop for a ship on its scheduled journey for cargo
operation or taking on supplies or fuel) at the Port of Singapore
sank in May to 3,059, the lowest since 1993, or near a three-decade
low.
Containerized activity remained sluggish last month, despite the hopes for a recovery in world trade -- Reuters notes shipping activity and bunker demand is expected to slump through June.
Blank sailings surged in the first week of June, with total
blanked capacity nearing 4 million twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU),
research firm Sea-Intelligence said last week.
A plunge in world trade has severely weighed on marine refueling, or bunkering, activity in Singapore.
"COVID-19 finally caught up in terms of bunker trend," a Singapore-based bunker fuel trader told Reuters.
Singapore bunker fuel sales volumes fell in May to 3.925 million tonnes, down 2% YoY, and -5% from April, reported MPA...
