By Lillian Liu (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-11-24 09:30

Shares in Sinotrans Shipping Ltd, China's third-largest bulk vessel owner, slumped during its Hong Kong trading debut, as investors cautiously reduced shares in the bulk-shipping sector because of concerns about falling iron ore and coal freight rates.

The stocks tumbled to HK$7.12, 13 percent lower than the HK$8.18 initial public offering (IPO) price, while its sister company, logistics firm Sinotrans Ltd, fell 7.3 percent to HK$3.7.

Analysts said investors were also worried about the health of the US economy, which shows signs of a worsening credit crisis. In addition, Sinotrans Shipping's IPO was priced at the high end when the market was still buoyant.

"Sinotrans Shipping is a good quality stock. It is plagued by lukewarm market sentiment," Taifook Securities shipping and aviation analyst Cho Fook-tat said.

It joined other shipping stocks in a broad slide as the Baltic Dry Index, an indicator of commodity-freight rates, has fallen for seven days in a row.

Hong Kong stocks rebounded by more than 2 percent after dropping sharply for two straight days, as bargain hunters moved in to take advantage of lower-priced stocks.

Sinotrans Shipping raised HK$11.45 billion in the largest Chinese shipping IPO since 1999 to expand its fleet.

"We are very confident about our profitability in 2008 and beyond," Zhao Huxiang, president of China National Foreign Trade Transportation Corp, Sinotrans Shipping's parent group, told reporters in an IPO press conference.

"Asia, especially China, has strong demand for dry-bulk shipments, and China's development fuels the global ocean shipping industry," Zhao said.

The Clarkson Company, an international consulting firm focused on the global shipping industry, said in its report that the shipbuilding sector suffered 25-year-long bubbles due to the over-supply of vessels in the 1970s. It was not until 2000 that the oceanic shipping business began a balanced growth cycle.

"The first driving force for the revival is the functioning of the business cycle," it said. "And China's trade growth is the second most important momentum."

Hong Kong individuals ordered 252 times the number of Sinotrans Shipping shares initially set aside for them, while international institutions sought about 85 times the number of shares available to them.

BOC International Holdings Ltd and UBS AG arranged the share sale.