Credibility, Capacity, and Constraint: Reflections on Ship Recycling in 2025 and What 2026 May Bring in International Shipping News 19/01/2026 The ship recycling market closed 2025 constrained, not distressed. Volumes remained low, prices eased further from early 2024 levels, and the supply of suitable recycling candidates stayed tight. At the same time, work continued at the yard level, focused on compliance and operational capability rather than throughput. This commentary reflects conditions across the main ship recycling markets in South Asia and Turkey, alongside freight and regulatory factors influencing vessel retirement decisions. Early weeks of 2026 point to a familiar setup. Buyers have capacity. Supply has yet to open up. After a firmer start in India, Week 2 saw sentiment turn cautious again as plate levels slid back quickly. Bangladesh, which had weakened, showed signs of recovery on improving demand, while Pakistan remained comparatively steady on firmer fundamentals. Indicative sub-continent levels are hovering around the USD 380-400/LDT range, with Turkey well below. 2025 was a supply story The defining feature of 2025 was the lack of recycling candidates. Discussion around ageing fleets and regulatory requirements continued, but owners largely kept ships trading. Freight earnings stayed sufficient across much of the year to delay exit decisions, a pattern that has carried into the start of 2026. Across recycling destinations, bidding activity came in short bursts. A small number of large LDT transactions, including LNG carriers and older bulkers, stood out. Most weeks were quiet. Yard space was available. Ships did not arrive in volume. This is limited price discovery. Many owners chose to extend trading rather than sell for recycling, even as steel prices softened and wider economic uncertainty grew. Pricing pressure across the subcontinent Recycling prices through 2025 remained well below levels seen at the start of 2024, when parts of the subcontinent approached USD 500 per LDT. By year end, pricing had moved lower across all major markets, led by weaker steel plate prices and currency movement. India saw one of the sharper adjustments. Local steel plate prices fell by about USD 70 per ton during the year. The rupee also weakened against the U.S. dollar, ending near INR 90. Together, these factors reduced pricing strength at Alang. Bangladesh showed mixed signals. Larger LDT deliveries supported activity earlier in the fourth quarter, then momentum slowed as yards filled and domestic steel trading cooled. Currency stability helped at the margin but did not offset softer demand. Pakistan remained comparatively steady. Steel prices declined there as well, but domestic conditions held up better than expected and pricing stayed ahead of neighbouring markets for much of the year. Turkey continued to operate well below the subcontinent on price, shaped by currency pressure and limited inflow of tonnage. Activity matched that reality. Compliance moved faster than volumes Despite limited throughput, 2025 delivered progress on Hong Kong Convention (HKC) alignment across the region. By year end, Bangladesh had around 23 HKC-compliant yards. Pakistan reached an important step with its first HKC-approved yard, with more approvals expected in early 2026 as upgrades continue. India retains the largest base, with more than 110 ship recycling yards overall, though compliant capacity still represents a smaller share of the total. Acc