Norwegian shippers dive as tanker rates drop, geopolical tensions increase

Hoegh Autoliners ASA

11/01/2024 11:34

** Shares of Norwegian shipping companies slide 3-9% as
falling tanker shipping rates, rising rerouting costs and
growing tensions off the coast of Oman unsettle investors
    ** Reports of armed individuals boarding a ship near Oman's
coast add to the concerns for firms already facing higher costs
due to the rerouting of vessels away from the Red Sea
    ** Arctic Securities analyst Kristoffer Barth Skeie points
to a significant drop in tanker shipping rates, as indicated by
a 13.4% fall in the Baltic LPG index
    ** Shares of LPG shipping group BW LPG  BWLPG.OL  are down
9%, while tanker firms Frontline  FRO.OL  and Hafnia  HAFNI.OL 
fall over 3%
    ** Meanwhile, Hoegh Autoliners  HAUTO.OL  and Wallenius
Wilhelmsen  WAWI.OL , which ship automobiles, fall 6.8% and 3.3%
respectively
    ** Hoegh gave a December trading update on Thursday, and
Barth Skeie points to "slightly negative wording" on costs, with
rerouting expected to persist into Q1
    ** But he notes Hoegh is systematically working to offset
this through cargo repricing and possible extra charges
    ** Shippers lead losses on the Oslo benchmark index
 .OSEBX , and Frontline is also among the biggest fallers on
pan-European STOXX 600  .STOXX 

 (Reporting by Jesus Calero)
 ((Jesus.calero@thomsonreuters.com))