Conflicting Signals Plague Ship Recyclers
January 2026 joins the pages of history as being part of the ongoing misery for the global ship recycling world, but there were noteworthy surges to report this week, saysreports cash buyer GMS.
“Across the board, for most of the major fundamentals, except sub-continent steel plate prices that have become the perennial party poopers of the recycling world of late, the momentum was definitely beyond noticeable,” says GMS. “The Baltic Exchange Dry Index, oil futures, and the U.S. Dollar collectively soared this week, creating ripples that would certainly be felt within the next four weeks. While the dry index soared 7.3% on the back of Capes pole-vaulting 12%, Panamaxes tripping up 1.6% in comparison, and Supras having a comparatively minor hiccup gain of 0.5%, oil futures impressively slid past USD 65/barrel and close the week out at USD 65.10 – a near 1% jump from last week.”
And the U.S. Dollar’s performance across the ship recycling markets was a reflection of how volatile Trump has made global financial markets on the back of further tariff threats against Canada, nation states in Europe including France and Denmark, and even striking into the hearts of global ship recycling markets with Pakistan (surprisingly) taking the biggest of hits this week, says GMS.
Ship recycling markets certainly seem to be having a global “up” moment, with India, Pakistan Bangladesh and Turkey all reportedly picking up some long overdue tonnage, although only India Bangladesh and Turkish anchorages are delivering the receipts to confirm these fixtures. India managed to secure an LNG carrier for strictly Hong Kong Convention recycling only and Turkey with its bevy of roros confirming that all of the major ship recycling destinations collectively secured their share of available market vessels since the start of January 2026 (and in a long time).
“Yet, the performances of the various dry indices stand to support the general expectation that supply will more than likely slow further down as we head into the traditionally quieter Chinese New Year period / warmer months, and as a variety of geopolitical and financial shocks are expected to arrive in February, including the critical elections in Bangladesh.”
Notwithstanding, there was still some good news which came through this week as another yard in Gadani reportedly received the country’s first Hong Kong Convention approval after significant hard work, investment and the requisite infrastructure upgrades.
GMS market rankings / pricing for week 5 of 2026 are:
