Despite the global economic slowdown, the cost of making ships has not come down which has made Shipping Corp of India (SCI) decide not to place orders for new vessels till March, a top company official said in kolkata on Tuesday.
"While we are sticking to our long-term plan to buy 40 ships by 2012, we are not going to order any till March as the cost of building ships is still high," said SCI chairman and managing director S. Hajara on the sidelines of a seminar on ports.
SCI had earlier planned to order 40 new ships in the 11th Plan period, delivery of which would happen by 2012.
Shipyards in China and South Korea are full with orders for new ships and they are not ready to bring down prices, he said.
"Apart from the cost of building new ships, prices of ship's engines also have not softened," Hajara said.
However, he expected global shipping industry to show signs of stability in July-September.
"Our assessment is that the financial markets globally would show signs of revival starting second quarter of 2009, which will then impact the commodity market and the shipping industry in turn," he said.
{{/usCountry}}"Our assessment is that the financial markets globally would show signs of revival starting second quarter of 2009, which will then impact the commodity market and the shipping industry in turn," he said.
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