SteelOrbis Shanghai
With the Chinese mills having suddenly suspended their iron ore ship charter business, the iron ore shipping market for China has experienced an unexpected collapse over the past week, with record-breaking drops seen in the shipping freight costs from Brazil and Australia to China.
On June 12, the average freight charge from Brazil to Beilun Port and Baoshan Port in China was $92.5/mt, down $9.125/mt compared with the level of the previous day. Meanwhile, the average freight rate from Western Australia to Beilun and Baoshan on June 12 was $34.818/mt, a decrease of $11.137/mt compared with the rate on June 11. Both the drops in question constituted record-breaking declines for a single day. Due to this impact, the Baltic Capesize Index (BCI) collapsed by 2,855 points on the same day.