Research and Markets: Latvia Shipping Report Q3 2011 - Ships Are Increasingly Being Forced to Operate Below Break-Even Rates

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/c26375/latvia_shipping_re) has announced the addition of the "Latvia Shipping Report Q3 2011" report to their offering.

Business Monitor International's Latvia Shipping Report provides industry professionals and strategists, corporate analysts, shipping associations, government departments and regulatory bodies with independent forecasts and competitive intelligence on Latvia's shipping industry.

Global shipping continues to suffer from the glut of vessels ordered during the boom years coming online. With demand still struggling to recover to previous levels, the three shipping sectors - container and dry and liquid bulk - are all struggling to maintain healthy rates in the face of overcapacity in the global fleet.

Indexes are falling and ships are increasingly being forced to operate below break-even rates. Huge geopolitical events, such as the Arab Spring and the Japanese earthquake, have further complicated the market dynamics in the shipping sector. BMI forecasts growth at Latvian ports in 2011 as the country continues to recover from the economic downturn, and through the mid term, though at a slow pace. The port of Riga will continue to dominate both tonnage and container throughput. The country has ambitious plans to increase the tonnage going through its ports over the long term.

Headline Industry Data:

2011 port of Riga tonnage throughput forecast +0.76% following a growth of 2.53% in 2010. Growth to average 1.7% to 2015.
2011 port of Riga container throughput forecast +1.52% following an increase of 39.1% in 2010. Growth to average 1.8% to 2015.
2011 total trade real growth forecast +9.4%, and to average 4.7% to 2015.

Companies Mentioned: