View from space of busy shipping hides dire straits of industry

London

FOR an industry that is losing money on almost every transaction, the world's commodity shipping firms are remarkably busy grabbing any cargo they can get their hands on.

From space, where satellites track ship movements, it all appears like the market is booming, data compiled by Bloomberg show. At giant iron-ore loading terminals in Brazil and Australia, millions of tonnes are loaded each month on vessels that come and go like clockwork. Along the coastlines of China, Singapore and even Greece, the picture is the same: little waiting about. But all that movement is a consequence of weakness, not strength. Commodity prices and demand are so lousy, freight rates for the biggest ships don't even cover a third of the cost of their crews. While owners would normally idle ships when things slow down, hoping to spark a rebound in rates, the outlook this time around is so dire that many figure it's better to have some business. Otherwise, they risk losing market share and earning nothing.