SUPRAMAX: Indo to China were fixed at around $8K daily; down around 27% WOW

8 January 2018

Supramax

Q1 kicked off with an usual standby with all counterparts waiting for the market to take direction. Further holidays in East-Europe added somnolence to Atlantic market especially within fertilizer, coal and scrap cargoes, says Fearnleys in its latest weekly report.

According to Fearnleys this year’s first report further said, Supras from Cont/Baltic for fhaul cargoes(+inl breach) though obtained similar levels to last done in end Dec (ca USD 17k daily). Owise very little reported.

From last week USG to China ships were fixed $24-15k daily and to S Brazil rates were ca $18k daily. Pacific has a same tendency and rates are dropping even further there. Backhauls from CJK to Med were concluded around $4k daily on an Ultramax. Supras del Singapore via Indo to China were fixed last week around $11k , now only around $8k daily.

Panamax

Commenting on Panamax, Fearnleys analysts team says, as expected, it has been a slow and sluggish start to 2018, with both owners and charters watching the market to see how it evolves. Over the holidays, there have been many discounted rates agreed, but this might not be representative for the market in general as owners and charters wanted to finish business before the start of 2018.

At the time of writing, Fearnleys says, the TA market has dropped to abt mid $11k’s, while fronthaul’s are being fixed in the $16 to 17k’s depending on duration. The sentiment in Asia remain soft with a transpacific RV priced at mid $9k’s and the expectations going forward is mixed. In general, the market need more fresh cargoes in both hemispheres to turn the freight rates into a positive trend.

Capesize

The Cape market dropped sharply into the new year, with the basket falling from around $30,000 USD p/d to $15,000 p/d within just a couple of weeks. However, the market has livened up slightly at the start of the year, raising hopes that January and perhaps February will be firmer than usual. The FFA currently prices January at $14,900 p/d and February at $13,200 p/d – healthy levels considering the seasonal headwinds fazed during these two months (higher vessel deliveries + the Chinese new year).

Source: COALSPOT