AsiaFinance and Insurance

Asian banks near the top of the ship finance charts

Asian banks continue to rise to the top of the ship finance charts. Research from Petrofin shows DNB Bank still the world’s top shipping bank, albeit its outlay this year has slipped to $25.6bn from $28.3bn in 2014. In second place is the Bank of China, which financed $21bn of shipping deals this year, up by $1bn over 2014. In third place, climbing from seventh in 2014, is the Export-Import Bank of Korea which notcvhed up $19bn in shipping deals in the first 11 months of this year, up $12.5bn over the whole of 2014.

KfW IPEX-Bank and ICBC came in the 4th and 5th, respectively, with $18.5bn and $18bn.

The European share in global ship financing has shrunk dramatically in recent years from 83.1% in 2010 to 62.3% this year.

Writing for this site last week famous ship financier Dagfinn Lunde noted: “In terms of interest rates, what Chinese banks offer are not especially competitive. It is more that they have the availability of funds and can underwrite big tickets. Where everyone else has reined in outlays, with capital restraints and the cost of money going up, China has ploughed forth.”

Sam Chambers

Starting out with the Informa Group in 2000 in Hong Kong, Sam Chambers became editor of Maritime Asia magazine as well as East Asia Editor for the world’s oldest newspaper, Lloyd’s List. In 2005 he pursued a freelance career and wrote for a variety of titles including taking on the role of Asia Editor at Seatrade magazine and China correspondent for Supply Chain Asia. His work has also appeared in The Economist, The New York Times, The Sunday Times and The International Herald Tribune.
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