The proactive approach towards industry investors and analysts continues into 2019, and Odfjell takes part in different panels discussing the market fundamentals and outlooks for the near future. Most recently the Clarkson’s Chemical Tanker seminar in London, that gathers investors from the UK and continental Europe, and Capital Link in New York, attended by 1000+ delegates from across the world.
“The advantage of participating in these events is that we get visibility to a wide range of investors in a relatively short time frame. We get to tell our story and thereby attract investors. Historically, dedicated chemical tanker panel debates have been non-existent while other shipping segments have been around for years – competing with us for attention. Attending several events the last years is starting to even out the asymmetric knowledge between chemical tanker and crude, product, LNG, LPG and dry bulk carriers, and we are now well on the way to be a natural alternative for investors to get exposure to an improving shipping cycle”, said Bjørn Kristian Røed, Manager Investor Relations & Research.
Check out the event recordings to learn more about ours and selected competitors’ market outlooks:
Capital Link 2019
Capital Link 2018
Selected quotes:
“One thing that we particularly focus on is the interplay between a product tanker and chemical tanker demand, on the supply side the swing tonnage. With the product tanker market under pressure, you see more tonnage coming into the chemical trade, trading in the easy chemicals and the veg oils. Now we note that this tonnage exits the direct competition from our fleet. In general, this tends to be a leg of 3-4 months – statistically at least, let’s say one or two quarters – so we’re obviously excited about the acceleration on the product tanker side from the seasonal strength it experiences and going into 2020 as well.”
- Bart Kelleher, Chief Strategy Officer, Chembulk Tankers
“The energy transition happening in the last years has impacted chemical tankers, but with a negative delta. This dynamic is now shifting in owners favor with an increasing imbalance and stretching tonnage demand for each tonne carried. Quoting Clarkson's export estimates of an incremental 15 million tonnes out of the Middle East and the US the next 18 months and multiplying the miles of 6,000-10,000, we reach 10-20% demand growth. It is difficult to say how this will play out in full as we’ve never seen that before – but looking into what has happened in other shipping segments, we believe we have exciting times ahead.”
- Bjørn Kristian Røed, Manager IR and Research, Odfjell
“Products seem to move faster than chemicals, and the outlook towards 2020 certainly looks pretty good. For the here and now, despite the trade wars which is leading to some shorter trade lane traffic, we still expect to see a 2% increase in the voyage duration in 2019. That’s very good news, tonne-mile growth is very helpful. We also believe that the 2020 effect is going to be a big dislocation of crude and products.”
- Hans Feringa, President & CEO, Team Tankers
The Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) annually organizes a shipping conference in cooperation with regional shipping organizations. This year, the conference focused on international competition, changing rules and increasing political and economic uncertainty. CFO Terje Iversen was invited to share how Odfjell as a global chemical shipping company has a broad approach toward financing and accessing capital markets.
“Accessing the capital markets, tapping ‘all’ available pockets of capital and using different financial instruments are keys to growing our shipping business in a challenging market. Traditional mortgage financing/senior secured debt continues to be the primary source of capital for tier one shipping companies, and Odfjell experiences continued strong support from our relationship-banks in addition to other interest. But, it is more and more important to manage multiple capital sources successfully”, Terje Iversen said.
The near 200 attending delegates represented the broad regional shipping industry, in addition to insurance, education & research, banks, media, law, and maritime organizations.
Odfjell’ers regularly welcomes students from various educations to our offices, and contribute as speakers at student and faculty conferences. Here’s a selection:
The Norwegian Business School
The student-run event ‘BI Inspire’ invites all the school’s business and marketing students to three days packed with sessions where the attendees meet national and international speakers from various industries. This year, VP Technology Erik Hjortland was invited to hold a keynote on Odfjell’s approach to sustainability and digitalization.
Erik highlighted selected examples of Odfjell’s efficiency, sustainability and digitalization programs, among them how we utilize big data and analytics for fleet performance, weather routing, propeller polishing, fresh water by reverse osmosis, propulsion upgrade, digital ships, augmented reality, and how we monitor and track by using digital tools.
“Since 2009, we have increased our energy efficiency by 30%. This is the results of all our projects combined. But we cannot rest. We continue to be committed to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, and have many new projects under development that will make a big difference moving forward.”
The Royal Norwegian Naval Academy
Dressed in full uniform, a class from the Royal Norwegian Naval Academy entered the headquarter for a half-day seminar to learn more about maritime law and international laws affecting global shipping.
As part of the seminar, the students was also introduced to demurrage and insurance, digital innovations and our fleet performance programs. Among the speakers were Elsebeth Guttormsen and Kathinka Aksdal from Legal, Karen-Sofie Hegg and Ole Marius Simensen from Demurrage, Tom Hagesæther from IT and Kristoffer Ramstad from Fleet Performance.
The Western Norway University of Applied Sciences
Maritime students from the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences attended a full day seminar in Bergen. Through the day, they got a broad introduction to Odfjell as a company, with a specific focus on chemical tanker operations.
Sessions:
Safety Risk by Harald Bauck and John Anders Kvinge, Risk Management
MSI by Fredrik Larsen and Jan Ove Ødegård, Ship Management
Weather Routing and Fleet Performance by Kristoffer Ramstad and Christopher Stene, Fleet Performance
Documentation by Tord Avsnes Sæle, Operation and Marine Support
Cargo Handling by Eyvind Bremset, Cargo and Port Operations
University of Bergen – Department of Psychosocial Science
COO Harald Fotland was one of the key speakers at the University of Bergen’s ‘Kile seminar’, focusing on change management and digitalization in a challenging international market. The seminar is an annual event for researchers and professors within the field of social psychology, work environment and leadership.
As previously published, the Secretary for Transport and Housing in Hong Kong and his delegation visited Bergen and Odfjell, and we have also welcomed the Ambassador for South Africa in Norway for the third year running. This year, Ambassador Selaelo Ramokgoba met with COS Øistein Jensen, COO Harald Fotland and fellow South African, Ship Operator Shamlin Shetty. Developments the past year, prospects and the bilateral relations between South Africa and Norway were discussed, including Odfjell’s activities in the country.
