Dry CargoEurope

Medmar flounders after losing hundreds of thousands of dollars on mistimed grain bookings

Greek dry bulk shipping concern Medmar has hit the rocks, with brokers telling Splash the Athens company has defaulted on a number of cargoes since last week. The company has been hit hard by a few cargoes it booked earlier this year – grains from South America – which it failed to hedge.

“When the market shot up they started bleeding heavily,” a source told Splash, suggesting the company was losing hundreds of thousands of dollars per cargo.

“Owners that have units on charter to them will have to take some significant haircut,” a broking contact said.

Grain houses are also scrambling to find replacement tonnage – at higher prices – to move their exports.

Medmar was founded 50 years ago and is now run by Donald McTaggart, the son of the company’s founder. It typically charters in around a dozen ships at any given time.

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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