In the coming months ahead of the inaugural Geneva Dry event organised by Splash, we will be sitting down with key names attending the dry bulk mega summit. In the hot seat today: John Michael Radziwill.
Cape markets have been on a spin worthy of the famous casino in Monte Carlo this month, spiking to above $50,000 a day before experiencing a swift fall in fortune.
Watching on carefully from Monaco has been John Michael Radziwill, who heads up dry bulk pool C Transport Maritime as well as GoodBulk, a shipowning vehicle that is eyeing new opportunities having completed its entire fleet sale earlier this year.
Radziwill is one of the 18 high profile shipownwers already confirmed as speakers at the inaugural Geneva Dry summit taking place at the Hotel President Wilson on May 2 and 3 next year.
The event is now less than five months away, and Radziwill is confident 2024 will be a firmer market for dry bulk owners.
“There is no cap on how high rates can go in a tight market especially if owners consolidate commercially,” Radziwill says in an exclusive interview.
Reasons for his optimism include favourable fleet dynamics, strong expected Atlantic grain volumes as well as the new environmental regulations on shipping which may create issues and have an impact on trade patterns as well as ensuring ships moving slower.
Nevertheless, looking east, Radziwill does have some cause for concern.
“It’s probably questionable if China can really come to the markets and absorb as much or more commodities at it has done this year,” he says, voicing concern about the Chinese steel markets as well as inflation and high interest rates around the world capping economic activity.
Radziwill will be speaking at Geneva Dry’s iron ore session, a lively hour set to be moderated by Tim Huxley, the CEO of Mandarin Shipping, and also featuring Andrian Dacy, managing director of the global transportation group at JP Morgan as well as Derek Langston, global head of dry cargo research at brokers Braemar.
“A Splash organised event is always well attended with believable and interesting speakers. And subsequently engaging in and listening to dialogues with dissenting views in objective searches for the truth. They’re a great road to understanding what’s going in our markets and beyond,” Radziwill says.
Geneva Dry is designed to get every rung of the dry bulk supply chain involved.
Panels will bring together analysts, miners, traders and shipowners to discuss where the markets are headed. Other sessions include minor bulks, agri-commodities, coal, decarbonisation, and an entire afternoon dedicated to digital.
To find out more about Geneva Dry, click here.
