Capesize

The Capesize market was buoyant in both basins this week, posting gains across the board. After bottoming out the previous week, rates were seen to quickly rise. This was helped along the way by typhoon Lekima off the eastern coast of China and a tightening vessel situation in the Atlantic. The Capesize 5TC opened the week at $24,022 to close at $29,624. In the Pacific, most major charterers were present at some stage of the week, but struggled to get repeat trades at last done levels. In the Atlantic, Vale was particularly busy for the Brazil to China trade, taking both prompt August dates and C3 September laycan dates. Black Sea trade to the Far East was rumoured once again this past week, which also contributed to the tightening vessel situation. With Singapore off on Monday it was a late start to the Pacific market, however it was quick to gather momentum. Combined with the weather situation, the West Australia to China C5 trade opened at $9.164 and was pushed to $10.498 by index time Friday.

Panamax

It was a strong week overall, with all areas feeling the pinch of a tightening of tonnage supply. Pressure remained for September shipments of grain from East Coast South America. The BPI P6 route index rose in excess of $1,400, with 82,000dwt vessels seeing around $18,000 per day, delivery Singapore. Period activity was prevalent, an 81,000dwt ship open China being covered in the mid $15,000s for seven to nine months trading. For Atlantic business a 75,000-tonner was fixed delivery Gibraltar for two to three laden legs Atlantic trading redelivery Skaw – Gibraltar range. Black Sea fronthaul remained firm, a 81,000dwt vessel being covered delivery Constanza via the Black Sea, with redelivery Singapore-Japan, at $32,000. The Asian arena saw a push, with an 85,000dwt ship fixing delivery Tianjin for August dates via East Australia, redelivery Japan, at around $15,000. For Indonesian coal runs, a 82,000dwt ship was fixed delivery China via Indonesia, redelivery Japan, in the mid $16,000s.

Supramax/Ultramax

It was an exciting week, with the surge in key markets from both basins bringing the BSI back above 1,000 points. The US Gulf was showing soaring signs, with the route index having one of the biggest improvements among others, with the tonnage list remaining tight in the Mediterranean / Continent / Black Sea area and East Coast South America. In the East, trading continued to be active after Singapore came back from its long weekend holiday, especially with Indonesia coal and North Pacific soda ash / grains lending support. On the period front, a 58,000dwt ship open West Coast India was fixed at $14,000, with minimum 75 days up to a maximum 90 days duration and redelivery in the Persian Gulf / South China range. A 56,000dwt ship open Altamira was fixed for three to five months at $15,500, with redelivery in the Atlantic. Fixtures were reported with high rates towards the weekend, this was despite a holiday on Thursday in most of the European countries. A Tess 58 type open West Africa was fixed to run via East Coast South America at mid $16,000s, with redelivery in the East Mediterranean. A Dolphin 63 type open US East Coast was fixed for moving coal to the Continent at $25,000. In the Pacific, a 61,000dwt ship open North China was fixed for a North Pacific run at $16,700, with redelivery in Southeast Asia. Most market participants considered this as a benchmark with higher expectations for next week.

Handysize

Similar to larger vessel sizes, the Handysize index and its weighted Timecharter Average climbed further. Early in the week, a 30,000-tonner open South Brazil was fixed for moving grains to the Continent at $14,000. A 40,000dwt ship open Ireland was booked for fertilisers to East Coast South America at $11,400 for the first 40 days and $14,000 afterwards. A 38,000dwt vessel open in the US Gulf was fixed to West Coast Central America at $17,000. Rates came up again for vessels delivered in Southeast Asia with a 35,000dwt ship open Cebu reportedly fixing at $8,250 for two to three laden legs with redelivery in the Singapore-Japan range.

Source: Baltic Briefing