What Me Worry?

The two locomotives of world economic activity are China and the United States. China has just reported economic growth for the most recent quarter on an annualized basis of 9.5%. This magnitude of economic growth should increase oil consumption by another 0.5 million bpd, good news for tanker owners. But what about the United States? The U.S. is China’s largest marketplace absorbing its ever-growing avalanche of goods. This inextricably ties the two economies together. Moreover growth in the U.S. economy is also an extremely important factor for oil imports and hence continued prosperity in the tanker business. Current concerns over the U.S. economy are centered on rising inflation and short term interest rates. Download here