Company: CMDB
Filing Date: 2025-04-23
Form Type: 20FR12B/A
Source: 0001140361-25-015197
Chunk: 156

Company: Costamare Bulkers Holdings Ltd
Filing Date: 2025-04-23
Form: 20FR12B/A
Chunk 156
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 firm growth in 2023.

Iron ore and coal trade have seen notably firm trends recently (both grew by approximately 4% per annum across 2023 and 2024), led by record Chinese import demand even as some underlying economic challenges in the country remain, notably around the property sector. Grain trade recorded growth of approximately 2% per annum across 2023-24, with Ukrainian exports rebounding after disruption in 2022 while Brazilian shipments eased back in 2024 from 2023’s exceptional record. Minor bulk trade is estimated to have grown by approximately 3% in 2024 as broad economic improvements in key economies support demand from a range of industries.

Dry bulk trade volume growth is currently projected to cool to approximately 1% in 2025, though uncertainty remains around the outlook, particularly with a range of scenarios around Chinese dry bulk imports after recent record levels, the mixed underlying economic trends in the country and other risks that require further monitoring such as international geo-political tensions.

Disruption has generally been supportive for dry bulk vessel demand recently, with shifting trade patterns – often towards longer distance trade routes – adding to vessel demand in tonne-mile terms (tonnes moved multiplied by distance carried). Factors including shifting trade flows following the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict (for example, Russian coal being redirected away from Europe to Asia and European imports from further afield), disruption at the Red Sea / Suez Canal and Panama Canal (each seeing many vessels redirected on longer alternative routes) drove an approximately 5% increase in the average “haul” (distance) of dry bulk trade between 2021 and 2024, adding significantly to vessel demand growth over and above volume trends throughout the period. The Red Sea crisis has created notable uncertainty around the dry bulk tonne-mile demand outlook; a normalization in trade routings could see trade distances ease back in the future.

Figure 5. Dry Bulk Supply-Demand Growth Trends

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#### Dry Bulk Supply Trends
Dry bulk vessel supply is a function of the size of the existing fleet as measured by cargo carrying capacity (typically in dwt, deadweight tonnes), and is influenced by the rate of newbuilding deliveries, scrapping and the operating efficiency of the fleet. At the start of February 2025, the total dry bulk vessel fleet stood at 14,155 vessels of a combined 1.04 billion dwt.

The dry bulk fleet has seen significant growth since 2000