Hong Kong: Pakistani breakers are feeling the heat from regional rivals and tax hikes that may well see many firms enter receivership. In the past week the scrapping market at large has been totally devoid of business. In Pakistan though the increase in import and sales taxes on scrap tonnage effective July 1 'will bring pressure on the prices that Pakistani breakers are able to offer and may ultimately result in them shutting down their operations,' warned shipbroker Clarkson Asia in a weekly market report, 'as they will find it even harder to compete with the Bangladeshi breakers, who continue to pay significantly more than either their Indian or Pakistani counterparts.'
The Hong Kong broker also noted: 'The monsoon season has historically seen a softening in prices but with such an acute shortage of tonnage, this is not the case this year.' [03/07/07]
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