Thumbnail: 

Shipping demand is essentially derived from world GDP numbers and, of late, what has been going on in China, explains Khalid Moinuddin Hashim, Managing Director, Precious Shipping Public.

"If we look at the two largest economies – the USA and the EU - we can see that things are looking decidedly shaky there.  If we look at China then we can see that GDP numbers have slipped from 9.7% in Q1 to 9.5% in Q2 and now to 9.1% in Q3 with a likely under 9% GDP number for the final quarter for 2011," says Hashim, who will be speaking at the 5th Annual Shipping Finance Asia Summit.

And Hashim believes that in the ship financing sector Asian banks hold the key.

"But seriously, the only untapped resources would be the local banks in Asia.  None of them are exposed to the toxic waste otherwise known as Sovereign Debt from any of the EU countries," underscores Hashim.

Hashim adds that banks would be in the best position to lend to Asian ship-owners who would be able to get better deals from them than from their traditional shipping bankers. 

"But to do that you would need a strong balance sheet, good risk management systems in place and some sort of a relationship with them," he adds.

MORE ARTICLES ON SHIPPING INDUSTRY

Quote Image: