Capesize (Atlantic and Pacific)
An exceptional week has gone by: the 4 T/c routes of the BCI improved by $5,840 a day!! The whole week long in all basins we assisted to a significant increase in not only for period but all charter rates and requests. The Fronthaul exceeded $58,000 and we believe $60,000 will certainly be reached next week; also the backhaul benefited from the progress of the route Richards Bay / Rotterdam reaching level $31,173. Coal ex Richards Bay reached level $17.30 fixed by
BHP with a vessels owned by MOSK. We think there will have to be a pause for though over the next week but the market will remain significantly active and the positions reached should remain substantially unchanged.
Panamax (Atlantic and Pacific)
Atlantic: Another hot week with the BPI finishing 160 points higher and only a small pause was seen at the end of the week. The South American market remained as the driving force. We also registered interest for tonnage in the East Mediterranean and Black Sea. The rates for a trip to the East for a good LME type was very close to $25,000 daily and trans-Atlantic business in the region to $23,000 daily. Short period was also evident with the rates moving closer to mid $20,000s.
Long period was also available with a vessel reported to have been fixed at $22,000/22,500 for 12-14 months.
Pacific: Short period was extremely active and this forced the rates and indices upwards even though very little activity was registered on the single trip/voyage fixing. The short period rates have now reached mid $20,000s, well in excess of what the vessels can achieve for a single trip. Owners are, of course, pushing for the maximum duration possible at these levels. Charterers have been able to take advantage of the weaker Indian Ocean market by taking vessels from this
position on short period, 2 laden legs or single trips to perform Atlantic business. We are still seeing a strong interest for longer period with requirements being circulated for 1-3 years and in some cases up to 5 years
Handy (Far East/Pacific)
Activity started quietly this week with fewer fixtures concluded and rates remaining stable. Wednesday brought the fire back showing 12 months period business concluded at higher money which in combination with positive deals on papers is expected to push the market a little further up in the Pacific, as well as in other basins. The spot remained quite sound for owners with cement timecharter rates for supramaxes stabilized to mid $20,000's both for West
Africa and
US Gulf. Similar rates are paid for coals
China/
India.
Handy (North Europe/Mediterranean)
Single voyage chartering activity slowed down again and only cross trade business emerged to have been concluded. The smaller amount of available tonnage still managed to maintain rates firm enough and major European charterers still paid quite a healthy rate for booking a supramax for short period. A fresh ignition of business ex Black Sea and Northern
Europe is needed to bring these areas back to full steam.
Handy (USA/N.Atlantic/Lakes/S.America)
Owners of the July-available handymax tonnage in the
US Gulf enjoyed a nice selection of business to choose for fixing their units. Rates for single trip to the east have got closer to the mid $20,000 mark and short period pays low $20,000's, which for the younger types is similar to what can be achieved for a trip to
Europe. Charterers' with firm requirements ex-
South America are trying to play the “cat & dog” game as few owners fixed and lost their subs making a larger number of vessels available, but owners so far have been showing full resistance to lower rates.
Handy (Indian Ocean/South Africa)
A reasonable amount of tonnage keeps getting fixed with
iron ore India/
China but rates remain quite on the low side. Even if at a first glance the figure may not appear that low, it has to be taken into consideration that the vessels' types are quite fancy, voyage duration is short and all deliveries are agreed basis arrival at charterers loading port, instead of the previous more customary sailing from previous discharging port.
Banchero Costa and Co Spa
Mail: research@bancosta.it
Web: www.bancosta.it