It is too early to sound the death knell for the dry-bulk sector despite the brutal sell-off of stocks this week, a leading analyst says.

Pareto’s Erik Helberg says the fundamentals of the industry are not yet as weak as some fear.

In the bank’s latest dry-bulk update, Helberg said: “We don’t have any particular insight into how the credit crisis will play out, but we are assuming that the financial issues will be worked out and not translated into an economic meltdown, although a significant global slowdown now appears to be discounted.

“We