For the fortunate few, there lies the silver lining in the bond market. Records were shattered in 2009 in the Asian shipping bond arena with over USD 7.26 billion in new issuances. This is a historical high which represented an over 350% increase from USD 1.59 billion in 2008. Clearly, the need for capital has never been stronger as companies grit their teeth against the harsh operating environment.
Transactions in the Asian shipping bond market ran the gamut from the simplicity of straight unsecured issues to the complexity of Islamic debentures. Korean shipping companies top the list, by issuing bonds with 1-3 year maturity and interest rates of 7-8%. Hyundai Merchant Marine, Hanjin Shipping, STX Pan Ocean, SK Shipping, Korea Line and EUKOR Car Carriers have all tapped the bond market more than once this year, having raised over USD 2.9 billion in total. Top Korean issuer HMM raised KRW 1.06 trillion (USD 899.9 million) through eight bond issuances between February to November this year.
This is only an excerpt of A Silver Lining in the Bond Market
Content is restricted to subscribers. To continue reading please Log-In or view our subscription options.
Tags: · asian shipping bond volume, bond market, China Changjiang National Shipping Group, China COSCO Holdings, China Shipping Development, COSCO, EUKOR, Goldman Sachs, Hanjin, HMM, Hyundai Merchant Marine, ING Bank, Islamic debentures, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Korea Line, Mitsui O.S.K., MOL, Nippon Yusen Kaisha, NYK, SK Shipping, STX, STX Pan Ocean, Titan Petrochemicals
You must be logged in to post a comment.