Another abrupt change

The US Trade Representative on 17 April published revised US port fees with significant changes to the initial proposal based on industry feedback. In its current form, the fees will primarily discourage use of Chinese-controlled maritime trade services to the US, and directly affect the use of Chinese-built vessels in US ports (with several considerable exemptions to avoid harm to US trade). The previous broader fees based on fleet composition and share of Chinese-built vessels has been scrappe...

Flex LNG Ltd: 1 director

A director at Flex LNG Ltd sold 9,000 shares at 23.200USD and the significance rating of the trade was 72/100. Is that information sufficient for you to make an investment decision? This report gives details of those trades and adds context and analysis to them such that you can judge whether these trading decisions are ones worth following. Included in the report is a detailed share price chart which plots discretionary trades by all the company's directors over the last two years clearly sho...

Trade war will hurt demand

Norsk Hydro (Sell, TP: NOK55.00) - Aluminium defying fundamentals

We reiterate our SELL and NOK55 target price, as we believe consensus EPS and aluminium price expectations are too high. We have seen aluminium prices outperform coal prices by 40% since the summer, defying the fundamental relationship where aluminium prices have been set by its cost of production for the past 15 years. We do not believe a balanced global supply/demand situation is likely to break this correlation. We have reduced our 2026–2027e EPS by 3% due to a stronger NOK versus USD. We est...

Norway: Best ideas Q1'25

‘The times they are a-changin’

The recurring theme at our 18th Energy & Shipping Conference was geopolitical uncertainty and a potential trade war, warranting a wait-and-see approach, particularly on the Trump 2.0 effect. The consensus view pointed to high asset values, with no rush to the yards, aligning with below-NAV valuations across most of our coverage. However, panellists generally saw less downside risk than the 25% average discount to steel for our Tanker, Dry Bulk and Gas coverage. Overall, the day highlighted uncer...

Estimates up, share down — for how long?

Norsk Hydro (Sell, TP: NOK55.00) - Soft result in strong market

The Q4 headline results were weaker than consensus and our forecasts, and the proposed 2024 DPS of NOK2.25 was down 10% YOY despite record-strong alumina markets, with aluminium prices at cUSD2,600/t. We still expect aluminium prices to fall towards USD2,200/t as markets remain balanced while input energy costs decline globally, together with weak demand for downstream products. We have raised our 2025e EPS by 7% on high alumina and aluminium prices going into 2025 and 2026e by 1%. We reiterate ...

Underlying inline and cost coming down

Heads-up for report 14 February

A. P. Møller Mærsk (Sell, TP: DKK10800.00) - Just too many ships

We expect Q4 to mark a turning point, with probable distributions announced and clear downside risk. Simply comparing the ratio of ships to cargo, we find there should be a significant number of ships without work versus 2019, and believe the depth of the downturn has yet to be priced in. We have downgraded to SELL (HOLD) and cut our target price to DKK10,800 (11,700).

Red Sea re-opening is well discounted

Q4 beat and '25 guidance better than feared

A playbook on US tariffs

As a response to recent news flow of potential tariffs and countermeasures, we highlight the main implications for the shipping sectors we cover. While the specifics remain uncertain, the below input might assist in gauging potential impacts of the disruptions.

A. P. Møller Mærsk (Hold, TP: DKK11700.00) - Potential for USD4bn–8bn ...

We expect the Q4 results to reflect continued strength in the container freight market, which picked up further over December–January, and have raised our 2025 forecasts. However, our 2025e EBITDA of USD6.0bn remains 17% below Bloomberg consensus. With guidance likely the main focus, we expect it to target underlying EBITDA of USD4bn–8bn. As vessel oversupply is set to continue hampering rates for a dreary long-term outlook, we reiterate our HOLD and DKK11,700 target price.

Mr. Market too pessimistic?

Norsk Hydro (Sell, TP: NOK55.00) - Downside risk for aluminium prices

We expect EBITDA of NOK8.5bn, boosted by high alumina prices. We reiterate our SELL and NOK55 target price, as we believe aluminium prices of USD~2,700/t have been driven higher by speculation rather than fundamentals. Prices are inflated by high alumina prices, which should come down as more supply enters the market. Furthermore, we believe higher copper prices will not lead to higher aluminium prices for much longer, as the two metal prices do not share fundamentals. We have raised our 2025e E...

A final 2024 guidance upgrade in the making

ABGSC Shipping Daily 29 November

Container spot rates up again 3% w-o-w, contract rates flat, HAUTO signs 2-year contract with a "major international car producer", Flex LNG announces 15yr time charter for Flex Constellation

Limited incremental news