Join our crew and become one of the 104,544 members that receive our newsletter.

bulk carrier bow shipping maritime ship

Asia Dry Bulk: Pacific, Atlantic Capesize Rates Set to Diverge

Rob Almeida
Total Views: 32
June 4, 2015

reuters logoBy Keith Wallis

 

SINGAPORE, June 4 (Reuters) – Rates for capesize bulk carriers could diverge next week, holding steady in the Pacific on healthy cargo volumes but easing in the Atlantic on a lack of coal and iron ore cargoes from South Africa and Brazil, ship brokers said.

“There’s still a fair amount of cargo from Australia. But not a huge amount of action from South Africa and Brazil,” said a Singapore-based capesize broker.

“I think the Pacific has reached a bottom for now,” he added.

“Rates from Brazil and South Africa will likely drop – I can’t see them pushing up unless we see more influx of cargo.”

Maritime Economics by Martin Stopford
Related Book: Maritime Economics by Martin Stopford
Several owners of larger capesize ships this week shifted from chartering their ships on a spot to a voyage-time charter where earnings were slightly higher, brokers said.

Oldendorff chartered two 200,000 dwt (deadweight tonne) capesize vessels for single trip time charters at $8,000 per day, slightly higher than daily operating costs of about $7,300 per day, according to data from Reuters and shipping accountancy firm Moore Stephens.

“I can’t say the market has reached the $8,000 per day level. The capesize market is still around $5,000-$6,000 a day,” said a Shanghai capesize broker.

The higher daily rate was because the vessels can carry a larger volume of cargo and had good fuel consumption, the Shanghai broker said.

Charter rates for the Western Australia-China route were around $5.15 on Wednesday, virtually flat from $5.13 per tonne last Wednesday.

Rates for the Brazil-China route eased to $10.93 per tonne on Wednesday, down from $11.08 per tonne last week.

Freight rates in the smaller panamax market are likely to slide next week as cargo volumes fail to match the supply of available tonnage, a Singapore-based panamax broker said on Thursday.

“We need to see an influx of fresh cargo … or a spot of bad weather (for rates to rise),” the broker said.

Rates for a panamax transpacific voyage fell to $4,334 per day on Wednesday, down from $4,496 on the same day last week.

Freight rates for smaller supramax vessels were around $7,000 per day for coal cargoes from Indonesia to India, Norwegian ship broker Fearnley said in a weekly report on Wednesday.

The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index closed up at 598 on Wednesday, against 587 a week ago. (Reporting by Keith Wallis; Editing by Joseph Radford)

(c) 2015 Thomson Reuters, All Rights Reserved.

Unlock Exclusive Insights Today!

Join the gCaptain Club for curated content, insider opinions, and vibrant community discussions.

Sign Up
Back to Main
polygon icon polygon icon

Why Join the gCaptain Club?

Access exclusive insights, engage in vibrant discussions, and gain perspectives from our CEO.

Sign Up
close

JOIN OUR CREW

Maritime and offshore news trusted by our 104,544 members delivered daily straight to your inbox.

Join Our Crew

Join the 104,544 members that receive our newsletter.