-- Bear Stearns (Scott Burk),
-- Jefferies & Company (Douglas Mavrinac),
-- JPMorgan Securities (Jonathan Chappell) and
-- Lazard Capital Markets (Urs Dur)
will participate in a Virtual Analyst Panel Discussion on the dry bulk
shipping sector on Tuesday, January 15, 2008 at 2:00 pm.
The Analyst Forum is organized by Capital Link, a New York based Investor
Relations and Financial Communications firm focusing on shipping.
ACCESS TO THE LIVE AUDIO WEBCAST -- NO TELEPHONE ACCESS
Access to the Analyst Forum is only through a live audio webcast accessible
directly at www.CapitalLinkWebcasts.com (link will be activated the day of
the webcast), where it will remain archived afterwards. There is no
telephone access.
Participants to the live webcast should register on the website
approximately ten minutes prior to the start of the webcast.
PANEL STRUCTURE
The panel discussion will be moderated by Nicolas Bornozis, President of
Capital Link, which organizes the Analyst Panel Discussion.
The focus of the discussion (and the Q&A) will be only on sector trends and
fundamentals, and not on company specifics or company recommendations. The
discussion will cover four topics: demand, supply, freight rates and asset
values, valuations, focusing on current trends and the sector's outlook.
QUESTIONS FROM PARTICIPANTS
Participants can submit questions to the analysts prior to or during the
event through the special event page at www.CapitalLinkWebcasts.com (link
will be activated the day of the webcast) or they can email them to us at
shippingforum@capitallink.com.
TRANSCRIPT
A transcript of the panel discussion will be publicly available within
approximately 48 hours after the event and those interested can request it
when they register for the event or afterwards by emailing us at
shippingforum@capitallink.com
About Dry Bulk Shipping:
International shipping plays a vital role in global trade given that 2/3 of
the world's goods are transported by sea. The shipping industry provides a
cost effective and practical means of transportation internationally of
large volumes of cargoes.
The dry bulk carrier market refers to the transportation of homogeneous
commodities in bulk. Dry bulk commodities are divided into two distinct
categories, major bulks and minor bulks. Major bulks include iron ore, coal
and grain, which are usually shipped on the larger size Capesize and
Panamax vessels and comprise about 67% of dry bulk trade. Minor bulks are
fertilizers, steels, sugars, cement etc., which are shipped in smaller more
versatile vessels such as Handymax and Handysize, and comprise about 33% of
the dry bulk commodities trade.
Dry bulk carrier ownership is fragmented with many owners and operators of
shipping tonnage, including independent operators, state-controlled
shipping companies and proprietary owners. Vessels utilised for transport
of dry bulk cargoes are usually classified into four categories based on
their carrying capacity in deadweight tons (DWT) (i) handysize
(10,000-39,999 DWT) (ii) handymax/supramax (40,000-59,999 DWT) (iii)
panamax (60,000-99,999 DWT) and (iv) capesize (higher than 100,000 DWT).
The shipping industry is highly cyclical, experiencing volatility in
profitability, vessel values and charter rates resulting from changes in
the supply of and demand for shipping capacity. Fluctuations result from
the interaction of various factors between demand and supply. The demand
for vessels is influenced by global and regional economic conditions,
international trade developments, port congestion, trading routes and
weather pattern changes, crop yields, armed conflicts, political
developments, embargoes and strikes, demand for consumer goods, dry bulk
commodities, and crude oil and oil products.
Supply of shipping capacity is mainly a function of the delivery of new
vessels and the number of older vessels scrapped and is also affected among
other by port congestion and regulation of maritime transportation
practices by governmental and international authorities.
Dry bulk companies listed on US Exchanges include Diana Shipping (Contact Information: Contact: Contact for Capital Link Shipping: Nicolas Bornozis President Capital Link, Inc. 230 Park Avenue - Suite 1536 New York, N.Y. 10169 Tel. (212) 661-7566 Fax (212) 661-7526 E-mail: nbornozis@capitallink.com http://www.capitallinkshipping.com http://www.capitallink.com