Ship Recyclers Face Clouded Price Recovery Outlook
Geopolitical risk has overtaken supply-demand fundamentals as the primary price driver in energy markets, and ship recycling is feeling the impact from both sides, as higher oil keeps aging vessels trading while a volatile U.S. dollar makes confident bidding difficult to sustain, says cash buyer GMS.
India delivered the week’s most notable currency development, as the rupee rebounded sharply from its record low of 94.42 to 92.73 following intervention measures by the Reserve Bank of India, including curbs on forward transactions, limits on banks’ FX positions, and restrictions on corporate rebooking of cancelled contracts.
Pakistan and Bangladesh saw only marginal currency movement, while the Turkish lira weakened further to a fresh record low of 44.59, continuing a prolonged depreciation trend that is steadily eroding Aliağa’s competitiveness for international tonnage.
The U.S. dollar, which has otherwise been a consistent source of pressure on sub-continent markets this year, sent mixed signals again this week, strengthening against the Turkish lira while easing against the Indian rupee.
These mixed signals continue to cloud price discovery, leaving buyers and sellers struggling to anchor positions and keeping overall market activity subdued, with little progress made on clearing the tonnage backlog that has built up over the course of Q1.
Bangladesh remains the standout positive in the region, with Chattogram recyclers actively seeking tonnage and maintaining the most engaged sentiment across the sub-continent. India and Pakistan, by contrast, continue to operate cautiously, constrained by limited supply and ongoing uncertainty in steel fundamentals that continues to weigh on bidding confidence.
As Week 14 settles into Q2, the industry is left asking a familiar question: when will tonnage begin to arrive in sufficient volume to meet the growing appetite from recyclers, particularly in Bangladesh?
GMS market rankings / pricing for week 14 of 2026 are:
