Capesize (Atlantic and Pacific)
Another skyrocketing week on Capesizes market!!! Plus 1.491 points on Baltic Capesize Index, the four timecharter average route gained almost $ 20.000 during the last week ending at USD 149,467 daily. The Charterers and operators failed to keep a lid on the market who suddenly reached record numbers: one Cape was reported fixed at $190,000 for fronthaul and also the Trans-Atlantic round reached the level of $ 160,000 daily.
Coal from South Africa to Continent was traded at just below USD 40s, and Tubarao/Rotterdam route at about thesame level, Trans-Pacific rounds at about $ 144,000 while the Backhaul voyage rate from Gladstone to Rotterdam isnow fixed at over $ 50.
Panamax (Atlantic and Pacific)
In both basins Atlantic and Pacific market continued to move up without, apparently, no sign of stopping: still very high interest on short period and spot rates talked now the $75,000 daily range. Round trips in atlantic are close to $80,000 daily whilst in pacific they are stronger with levels close to $ 90000. Regarding long period business still strong with prompt dely but little flection with forward dely.
Handy (Far East/Pacific)
Charterers' interest for period fixing remained smaller with an on going attempt to try lower also the spot rates. Nickel ore commodity price has recently increased, China's nickel ore import from the Philippines and from Indonesia has become one of the most representative routes to describe the Asian market trend, and charterers have been endeavoring to push rates down as otherwise they pretend not to be able get their deals reconfirmed by the cargo receivers. Another excuse to try lower rates are the forthcoming holidays involving South Korea, Taiwan and Japan which are pretended to put activity to very quiet for most of next week. The result lead to fewer bookings concluded, but the reported ones still showed very strong rates. Within this general atmosphere smaller handies kept booking at rates well above what should be proportional to their smaller size.
Handy (North Europe/Mediterranean)
The very few reported fixtures are not at all a sign of weak market in these water. To the contrary the problem is not with the owners about "what business to fix" but with the charterers about "how to able fix their business". Much more deals are said to have been concluded off the market and the lack of available tonnage all around the Continent, Mediterranean and Black Sea brings cargo operators into a hard life. Available prompt vessels can be counted on fingertips and several owners moreover want to keep them within Atlantic waters which besides pushing rates up on the Continent and Black Sea to Middle and Far East trades reflected also on an upward trend for similar bound destinations loading out of Atlantic Americas. Charterers loading from the Black Sea and the Continent are more and more chasing vessels coming available in the Western Med.
Handy (USA/N.Atlantic/Lakes/S.America)
A very slow start of the week almost lead to think that this market would have finally gone through a downward correction. The pressure came back at the mid of the week, lead by a number of fresh enquiries from the Us Gulf to Mid and Far East. Larger Supramaxes are talked in the low 70,000's for trips to India and for Singapore Japan. Rates for trips across are said to have suffered some downward correction, but a majority of business done off the market prevented from having a clear-cut of what is actually going on. South America sounded a little more messy with an apparent slower demand for grain loadings and some owners starting take into consideration the more complicated exercise of the voyage employment, but here again we shall have to wait some more reports to come out before saying further.
Handy (Indian Ocean/South Africa)
A bit more fixtures reported on the India/China iron ore run showed a progressive return to the trade with bit better rates agreed. Levels are still far from other areas which allows market operators having an outbound stem in hands, to book tonnage on period at quite higher rates than the spot market. The gap is expected to be easily bridged with the next leg employment. The available tonnage is still scarce which should make this market more attractive for owners once the iron ore volume trade goes back to normal.
Banchero Costa and Co Spa
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