Shipping stocks are on the rise! Worth a look!

Not sure how many of you are following whats going on in container and bulk shipping...? But, it may be worth your attention as they are going from strength to strength.

For those of you that haven't been keeping an eye, container rates have gone through the roof due to a bottleneck in the container market met with increased demand for consumer goods during the pandemic (ie. containers are logjam and can't keep pace with demand as people order more goods from China/amazon). Similar, there is a huge amount of demand for raw materials as countries make their way out of the pandemic with government stimulus. Much of this demand is currently being driven by 'Chinese Special Bonds' (ie. more cheap money for infrastructure/raw materials).

In the handysize vessel segment alone, day-rates have now surpassed 2011 highs. This trade should continue for a while as more government stimulus is pumped into the system, central banks keep rates low and countries begin exiting lockdown/pandemic. There is a huge pent up demand and big infrastructure projects underway. Just look at the Biden administration's environmental agenda! A good way to get exposure to the upside in shipping is buying companies with handysize fleets. Due to the parcel size of the non-ferrous metals, handysize vessels are the best fit for non-ferrous transport.

An added bonus in Handysize at the moment is the fact that the fleet is aging (which means the oldest of them get scrapped) and the orderbook for new builds only makes some 2% of current fleet. It takes 18 months (at least) to build a handysize so its not like the market can get flooded one day to the next. Demand currently far outstrips supply!

I would recommend that everyone has a look at the segment. Not all alpha has to come from brick phones and movie theaters....

If any of you find this trade idea interesting feel free to message or respond and I'll share a few stocks I've analysed.