Earthquake in Japan also affects shipping
SHIPPING: The earthquake and subsequent tsunami that hit Japan this morning is first and foremost terrible for the people affected by this natural disaster. As a side effect to this disaster, shipping is also affected by the event but the scale of the damage and the way it will impact shipping is still unknown.
Right now the only thing that appears safe to say is the ports in the northern part of the country are most affected by the quake and the tsunami. All ports in that area are assumed to be out of order as operations have stopped and port facilities may have been washed away.
It goes without saying that normal shipping business is interrupted by this event, and this goes across the board of the various shipping segments. In the short-term demand for shipping will stop and only slowly start to move once things get back to normal. In the medium to long-term outlook demand for shipping may be higher because of this natural disaster.
Container shipping may be impacted by lack of exports from the Japanese factories, causing liner companies to leap-frog Japanese ports on their transpacific trading lanes.
Dry bulk shipping may be impacted in many ways as Japan is a major importer of thermal coal for power generation, iron ore and coking coal for steel production and grains for food and feedstock. Several nuclear power plants may by shut down for days or weeks and coal stocks at coal-fired power plants have experienced coal stocks getting flood away.
Tanker shipping may be impacted as refineries are on fire which could affect product tanker demand. Moreover the nuclear power plant shut down may also affect overall oil imports for power generation.
Both imports and exports may be affected by force majeure.
The situation will be followed closely and the effect on shipping will be evaluated as more light is shed on the situation.
Source: BIMCO / maritimedanmark.dk
