Austal to showcase vessels at China Maritime

From: http://www.bairdmaritime.com

Wednesday, 03 March 2010

Austal will be showcasing its range of high speed, lightweight aluminium vessels at China Maritime 2010, to be held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, March 16 - 18.

...Also of interest to many of the region's navies, coast guards and maritime security agencies will be Austal's range of high speed defence platforms, including police vessels, patrol vessels, combat ships and high speed support vessels.

On display will be Austal's latest 47.5-metre passenger catamaran ferry, 21 of which are currently servicing the growing demand generated from the Hong Kong to Macao route.

Also on display will be a model of Austal's 102-metre next generation trimaran, which is currently nearing completion at Austal's Western Australian shipyard and is available for purchase... >>>Rest of Article>>>

Aluminium and Steel Price History

Additional data in furtherance of the following post:
JHSV Contract Awarded Well Over Budget

Aluminium costs into JHSV and LCS are about 50% of what they were as recently as last summer, and steel costs into LCS are about 25% of what they were as recently as last summer:

From: http://www.metalprices.com/FreeSite/metals/al/al.asp#MoreCharts



We are back to 2004 prices for aluminium:



The recent contract for the one JHSV is over budget beyond any legitimate reason.

Re: LCS and steel cost see: http://www.metalprices.com/FreeSite/metals/steel_futures/steel_futures.asp
And: http://www.metalprices.com/FreeSite/metals/Steel/DJSteel.asp

We are also back to 2004 prices for steel:
http://finance.google.com/finance?chdnp=1&chdd=1&chds=1&chdv=1&chvs=maximized&chdeh=0&chdet=1227229308733&chddm=572424&q=INDEXDJX:.DJUSST&ntsp=0

Below is an interesting graphic on past steel demand by region on the world. Notice the U.S. demand under NAFTA and relatively how large the China demand is. The China demand for steel is what is dramatically falling right now. For what will be happening to China's economy, look for political unrest there within a year or two if these economic trends continue.



Aloha, Brad