Weekly detailed analysis of world shipping freight markets for all major routes for April 6, 2020 – April 10, 2020
Capesize (Atlantic and Pacific)
Rates kept increasing, but not as strong as during the previous week and they now seem to stabilize; the 5TC average gained $700/d and closed on Thursday at $6,700/d. Tubarao-Qingdao remained around mid $10s/mt most of the week and on Thursday received a boost closing at $11.05/mt. Brazil RV remained stable around $7,000/d. Quite a different path for W Australia-Qingdao which went from very high $4s/mt to $4.60/mt after bottoming on Wednesday at $4.30/mt. Pacific RV lost $1,000/mt. On the Atlantic side, rates were quite stable until Wednesday and received a significant push on Thursday: fronthaul went up at $18,000/d gaining, $4,000/d, and TransAtlantic RV followed moving from $4,600/d to $5,600/d. Backhauls increased closing the week at $4,600/d.
Panamax (Atlantic and Pacific)
The beginning of the week started particularly slow due to the Tomb Sweeping holidays in Asia as well as the approach of Easter holidays. As the week progressed, a wave of cargoes from S America overwhelmed the Atlantic basin; however, despite the depth of volume, rates remained mainly flat for end April/early May laycan and owners tried to take cover prior Easter. The market in N Atlantic remained extremely quiet and inactive, bids seemed to weaken too. In the Pacific basin demand was healthy from NoPac which was the driver for the market for Japan/Korea positions already during the previous weeks. In Indonesia, the coal demand bumped up a little, but a wide bid/offer gap made it difficult to identify where the true market lied. By contrast in Australia no rise was reported. As the week progressed, in the Pacific basin rates continued to gradually increase despite demand from NoPac waned; Australia and Indonesia appeared to have picked up the slack and visibly supported rates in this basin. A strong volume of fixtures was reported particularly in Asia and from S America. A 82,000 dwt with dely ECSAm was fixed at $13,100/d + 310,000/d bb for a Fronthaul trip with redely Spore/Japan range, whilst a 77,000 dwt was fixed at $12,750/d + 275,000 bb for a similar trip.
Handy (Far East/Pacific)
The market in F East kept decreasing, even if at lower pace than previous week: it lost around $500/d on Ultramax/Supramax and a bit less on Handysize. A 58,000 dwt with dely Indonesia was rumoured at $4,850/d for a trip to S China. Two 56,000 dwt units both with dely Indonesia were fixed for the same trip to Thailand respectively at $4,000/d and at $4,500/d. A 57,000 dwt with dely Spore was fixed at $3,350/d for a trip via W Australia to Vietnam and a bit smaller unit with dely Thailand was done at $5,250/d for a trip to N China with bauxite. No fixtures were reported in the Handysize segment, like previous week.
Handy (North Europe/Mediterranean)
The market in Cont kept its trend and rates weakened. A nice Ultramax was evaluated $8,500/d basis dely passing Skaw for a trip via Cont to E Med. A 55,000 dwt with dely Bremen via Baltic was fixed for a trip with fertilizers at $4,000/d for the first 40 days and then at $9,000/d for the balance period. No rumours were reported on the Handysize segment. The market in BSea/Med was pretty slow, which is typical of the week before Easter and in particular given the current health situation. Most of the fixtures were on private terms and described as depressing. Some fixtures for trips to Cont were concluded in the $4,000/d region while on Fronthauls Supramax and Ultramax units struggled to fix at more than $15,000/d from Canakkale
Handy (USA/N.Atlantic/Lakes/S.America)
Supramax and Ultramax rates remain depressed in USG with no signs of recovery expected mainly due to a large number of units open in the area. On TransAtlantic RV Supramax units were fixed at $4/5,000/d, while Ultramax had a premium of a few thousand dollars. On Fronthaul, rates were around $11,000/d on Supramax and around low/mid-teens on Ultramax. A negative trend was reported also for Handysize: very little activity was recorded together with a long position list. 32/35,000 dwt units were fixed around $6/7,000/d while larger 36/39,000 dwt were in the $8/9,000/d on TransAtlantic RV. The market in ECSAm was in free fall: a lack of fresh cargoes for prompt dates pushed rates further down. ContMed routes were particularly affected with rates losing half of their values in 2 weeks. 38,000 dwt units went from $8,000/d to $6,500/d, a 35,000 dwt was fixed at $4,500/d basis dely aps ECSAm for a trip to Cont and the market is expected to decrease further due to Eastern holidays. Trips to F East were rumoured around $10/11,000/d: no fixtures were reported on Handies on this route. Brazilian coastal trips kept decreasing too: rates were rumoured around $4,500/d. Larger units followed a similar trend with softer rates: Supramax rates for trips to Cont/Med decreased from $9,000/d to $7/7,500/d (depending on vessel’s specs) while Ultramax rates went from $9,500/d to $8,000/d. Rates on trips to F East were pretty much unchanged, probably because they were already closed to the bottom: Ultramax units were rumoured at $11,500/d + 150,000 bb while Supramax at $11,250/d + 125,000 bb.
Handy (Indian Ocean/South Africa)
The market remained soft with limited demand and activity. Supramax units were fixed around $4,500/5,000/d basis dely aps Mina Saqr to India. From WCI and ECI very few cargoes came out towards several directions, including China. From WCI, Supramax units were fixed around mid-$5/6,000/d with salt and sulphur cargoes to F East, while 30/33,000 dwt units were discussed around $3,500/4,000/d basis dely aps, to other destinations in the Pacific basin. From ECI to F East, rates on Supramax decreased to mid-low $3,000/d basis dely aps, approximately $750/1,000/d less than previous week. Supramax with coal cargoes were fixed around $7,000/d basis dely aps Richards Bay and no ballast bonus was expected for MEG/India range redely.
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