Capes propped up by China market sentiment
Demand for heavy machinery continues slide
A decline in demand for screeners and graders in December has seen heavy machinery imports fall for a second consecutive month.
The Skelton Sherborne Shipping Index showed the number of imported screeners fell 73% from November to 42 units while graders dropped 45% to 34 units.
However the overall number of machines imported in December fell only slightly to 1650 from 1677 in November, which was 1% down on October.
Skelton Sherborne, which specialises in shipping heavy equipment, said the back-to-back monthly declines were not a reflection of the global financial crisis.
“December and January are seasonally the quietest months of the year so we don’t think this is symptomatic of any particular decline in the industry,” the Brisbane-based company said.
