The Baltic Exchange has issued its reports for the last week, 22 – 26 June 2020, to provide information of the bulk and dry market performance. The information is used by shipbrokers, owners & operators, traders, financiers and charterers as a reliable and independent view of the dry and tanker markets.
Tankers – VLCC
- Rates tumbled in the Middle East with 270,000mt to China at WS36.5 region, down 19 points week-on-week.
- The 280,000mt to US Gulf via the Cape/Cape routing is assessed eight points lower at WS23.5.
- In the Atlantic it was a similar sorry tale with 260,000mt West Africa to China shedding 17.5 points to WS38 level.
Tankers – Suezmax
- Rates found the baseline this week, with 135,000mt Black Sea/Med settling at WS48.75 – 1.5 points lower than last week – as 140,000mt Middle East Gulf to Med has remained flat at WS21.5 level.
- In the 130,000mt west Africa to UKCont trade, rates collapsed about 10 points to mid-high WS30s early in the week.
Tankers – Aframax
- In the Mediterranean market, rates for 80,000mt Ceyhan/Med have stumbled again and lost 2.5 points to WS57.
- In Northern Europe, rates for 80,000mt Hound Point/UKCont gained a couple of points to WS75 level.
- The 100,000mt Baltic/UKCont rates saw the same improvement to WS45 region
Tankers – Clean
- Uninspiring week for owners plying the 37,000mt UKC to USAC trade, with rates remaining under pressure and the market eased five points to WS 80.
- Tonnage is now tighter and brokers feel there is potential for a modest improvement here. It was a tale of two halves for owners looking for backhaul business from US Gulf where rates for 38,000mt to UKC initially dipped down to mid /high WS50s before nudging back to low WS60s.
Bulk – Capesize
- Vessels are now being seen changing hands in healthy trading, while iron ore pricing continues to support cargoes coming to market.
- The Brazil to China C3 is now trading often north of $20 as Vale has been active throughout the week amongst other traders.
- News of a lessening of the east Australian quarantine measures is a heartening sign that some regions have been able to tackle their Covid-19 issues.
Bulk – Panamax
- In the north Atlantic, solid demand for both trans-Atlantic and front haul trips saw rates continue to rise with $13,000 agreed for an 82,000dwt delivery this side for an Atlantic round trip.
- In Asia, trading was somewhat curtailed by Chinese holidays.
- Meanwhile, a very nice spec kamsarmax achieved low $11,000’s delivery Japan for a NoPac round trip. Period activity was negligible this week with significant falls on the FFA market.
Bulk – Supramax/Ultramax
- With Asian holidays taking place, the routes within this area lost ground.
- Period activity remained buoyant with a 63,000 open US east coast fixing three to five months trading redelivery Atlantic at $12,000 – and a 57,000 open Indian Ocean fixing five to seven months trading at $12,500.
- From the Atlantic, sentiment remained strong with tight tonnage supply in many areas.
Bulk – Handysize
- The market pushed further in the US Gulf, whilst charterers continued paying up.
- There was a fair amount of volume moving in east coast South America but slightly slowed down towards the weekend.
- Both HS3 route from east coast South America and HS4 route from the US Gulf have been climbing consecutively over a month, with an overall gain over $2,000 respectively. A 37,000-dwt was fixed from Rio Grande for a trip to the Continent at mid $9,000s.
The full reports are available on Baltic Exchange’s website, under related category. Namely, the Baltic Exchange information is based on assessments made by a global panel of shipbrokers, covering voyage and timecharter rates for capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize bulk carriers; VLCC, aframax & MR tankers, LPG and LNG vessels as well as forward assessments, vessel values, market reports & fixtures and demolition values.
See also