The glory days of the supercycle that saw ship orders spiral from 2004 to 2008 will never return, the world’s largest shipbuilder has said in an internal newsletter.
Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) expanded massively in the previous decade taking advantage of shipping’s so called supercycle, led by Chinese consumption of raw materials. It now reckons there will never be a supercycle for new ship orders like it again.
HHI, like all leading Korean shipbuilders, has now entered a painful period of creditor enforced restructuring, looking to shave off $3bn of assets in the process.
