Inland Pushboat Market Report - June 2022

Of the 13,444 vessels (excluding barges) Marcon currently tracks, 796 are inland river pushboats with 49 officially on the market for sale (35 U.S. flag and 14 foreign flag). Six of the boats with age listed were built within the last ten years. 21 boats are forty-five years of age or older. The oldest listed was built in 1954, a 73.6', 1,320BHP vessel on the U.S. West Coast. This is counterbalanced by two a 2022-built, 72', 2,000BHP vessel located in the U.S. Midwest. Marcon also has nine inland river pushboats listed for charter - seven U.S. and two foreign.

The number of inland river push boats officially on the market for sale in total is 49, down five, or 9.26%, from one year ago in June 2021 and down 42 or 46.15% from May 2017. Composition of horsepower range in the last year has changed with the biggest shifts being five fewer 2,000-3,000HP with average age of 1998 (compared to 1989 in 2021), one more under 1,000HP (1988 vs 1990), one more 1,000-2,000HP (1976 vs 1972), one fewer 3,000-4,000HP (1978 vs 1967) and one less 4,000-5,000HP (2013 vs 1999) push boats offered. This slight decrease in offerings is from a combination of older, lower horsepower push boats being scrapped but also more vessels are going back to work as we are coming out of the past two years of pandemic shutdowns. We do not have any push boats offered greater than 5,000HP, reflecting that higher horsepower units are working consistently despite the current events. For now, 12.24% of the push boats available are less than 10 years old, down from 16.67% reported one year ago and from 13.19% reported five years ago. In looking at overall fleet age and then by U.S.-flagged versus foreign flagged, over the past five years we can see that while overall and U.S.-flagged fleet age remained steady, foreign-flagged fleet age increased significantly as older units were placed on the market due to no work amid the global economic crisis. Specifically, the average age of all on the market through Marcon last year and five years ago was 39 and 34 years, respectively, compared to 37 years now. Mostly older foreign-flagged vessels have gone on the market, with average age going from 19 years in 2017 to 41 years now. U.S.-flagged push boats went from 36 years old five years ago to 38 last year to back to 36 years old as of this report date.

Of the 43 vessels listed for sale where engine type is known, 13 are powered with Cummins, followed by nine with CATs, six with EMDs, John Deere, Mitsubishi and other engine types with four each and three with GMs. Most of the inland river pushboats Marcon has listed for sale are located in the U.S. with 35 vessels or 72%; followed by seven or 14% in Europe, five in Latin America and one each in Canada and with "undisclosed" location. While our focus is on the U.S. market, there has been a decline of vessels offered in the U.S. as percentage of all available for sale noted a year ago when it dropped to 65% compared to 81% in 2017, but it has now increased up to 72%. Compared to five years ago, there are fewer push boats available in Europe (17% in 2017 to 14% now) but more in Latin America (2% in 2017 to 10% now).

Marcon has closed 12 sales to date in 2022, after ending 2021 with ten sales and one charter in 2021 and 2020 with 22 sales and charters completed. Many of the 2020 deals were well in the works before the Covid-19 situation developed and oil prices crashed. Throughout most of 2020 and early 2021, the market was extremely slow both domestically and world-wide. We continue to see a pickup in inquiries and inspections and have multiple sales pending at this time as business rebounds. We are hopeful, with the current pace of business, to return to pre-Covid sales levels by mid-2023.

Marcon's Market Comments
The U.S. inland market has been stronger in 2022. Major drivers continue to include supply chain disruptions, the war in Ukraine, general inflationary pressures and high fuel prices. Grain transportation by barge is still running about 10 percent higher than last year for the same period, but declining in recent weeks as international markets expect supplies from Ukraine to resume. Average U.S. diesel fuel prices have recently decreased slightly, but are still up at around $5.25 per gallon, compared to around $3.35 per gallon last year (an increase of over 50%). The inland tank barge market is seeing increase utilization and higher rates. Both dry cargo and tank barge operators are facing higher fuel costs and generally high inflationary pressures impacting margins. Operators hope to offset inflated costs against higher rates in the second half of 2022 and into 2023 to restore margins. Supply chain disruptions are expected to continue to gradually improve as the pandemic is further in the rearview mirror. Although demand is strong for inland push boats, second hand supply continues to be very limited. Overall Marcon has seen an increase in activity across several maritime sectors in the first half of 2022, with a limited supply of good second-hand vessels and barges being the primary factor influencing the number of sales.

 

Commercial Marine Brokers since 1981