Inland Pushboat Market Report - June 2023

Of the 13,300 vessels (excluding barges) Marcon currently tracks, 816 are inland river pushboats with 52 officially on the market for sale (38 U.S. flag and 14 foreign flag). Eight of the boats with age listed were built within the last ten years. Twenty-eight boats are forty-five years of age or older. The oldest listed were built in 1944, a 76', 1,150BHP vessel and a 127', 3,600BHP vessel, both on the U.S. West Coast. This is counterbalanced by a 2023-built 96' 4,000BHP pushboat located on the U.S. Gulf Coast. Marcon also has six inland river pushboats listed for charter - four U.S. and two foreign.

The number of inland river push boats officially on the market for sale in total is 52, down three or 6.12%, from one year ago in June 2022 and down 49 or 48.51% from May 2018. We do not have any push boats offered greater than 5,000HP, reflecting that higher horsepower units are working consistently. Currently, 15.38% of the push boats available are less than 10 years old, up from 12.24% reported one year ago but down slightly from 15.84% reported five years ago. Specifically, the average age of all on the market through Marcon last year and five years ago was 37 and 45 years, respectively, compared to 40 years now. Mostly older foreign-flagged vessels have gone on the market, with average age going from 30 years in 2018 to 42 years now. U.S.-flagged push boats went from 48 years old five years ago to 36 last year to back to 39 years old as of this report date.

Of the 48 vessels listed for sale where engine type is known, 12 are powered with Cummins, followed by ten with EMDs, nine with CATs, four with John Deere, GM and Mitsubishi with three each and seven comprised of other types. Most of the inland river pushboats Marcon has listed for sale are located in the U.S. with 38 vessels or 73%; followed by seven or 13% 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 71% compared to 82% in 2018, but it has now increased up to 73%. Compared to five years ago, push boats available in Europe has stayed consistent (13% in 2018 same as now) but more in Latin America (2% in 2018 to 10% now).

Marcon's Market Comments
The U.S. inland market has slowed somewhat compared to 2022. Supply chain normalization and more normal water levels has brought demand more toward balance. The war in Ukraine, continues with recent threats by Russia to disrupt grain shipments. For the week ending June 24, barged grain movements totaled 400,094 tons. This was 48% less than the same period last year. Fuel prices are down from 2022, but have been trending higher in recent months. For the week ending June 19, the U.S. average diesel fuel price rose 2.1 cents from the previous week to $3.815 per gallon - $1.995 below the same week last year. Diesel prices rose in 7 of the 10 regions, with the biggest increase of 4.3 cents occurring in the Gulf Coast region. Following a 1.8-cents increase for the week ending April 17, diesel prices have continuously declined. The current price rise marks only the fifth time this year that prices have risen. According to the Energy Information Administration's (EIA), June Short Term Energy Outlook, retail diesel prices are expected to average $3.95 per gallon in 2023 and $3.82 per gallon in 2024, down from $5.02 per gallon in 2022.The inland tank barge market remains on strong footing. Tank barge operators are seeing utilization rates in excess of 90% driving higher pricing. 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 2023, 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