Baltic Exchange: Maritime market highlights 4-8 Oct

Bulk carriers

-Capesize

• The Capesize market continued its bull rally this week as we move into the tail-end quarter of the year. The Capesize 5TC managed a high of $86,953 on Thursday before closing out the week on a softer note at $83,865.
• Throughout the earlier part of the week the Pacific basin rose in tandem with the Atlantic on strong sentiment. But was seen to soften as the week ended leaving the Atlantic paying a significant premium.
• The Transatlantic C8 closed at $95,550 to the Transpacific C10 at $77,692.

-Panamax

• The North Atlantic proved to be bereft of any significant demand, this is despite signs of some Capesize split cargoes entering the fray. A long tonnage count on the Continent persisted for most of the week applying pressure to rates.
• The Black sea grain market saw plentiful demand and rates here were deemed steady.
• However, the lack of a spark from the Americas proved to be the nemesis for owners. Healthy period activity on the week with support FFA’s saw an 82,000-dwt achieve $32,000 for 10/12 months.

-Ultramax/Supramax

• Period activity remained in the background, a 60,000-dwt open North China fixing minimum four months to maximum five months trading at $42,500.
• A 63,500-dwt open Mediterranean was failed for minimum four months Atlantic trading in the mid $40,000s. As said demand returned to the US Gulf, Ultramax sizes were seeing in the mid $40,000s for transatlantic runs.
• A mixed week elsewhere with limited fresh enquiry from South America, although some brokers said a little more enquiry was being seen from West Africa.

-Handysize

• Despite holidays in Asia, the BHSI made further gains and moved above 2000 points for the first time since September 2008. This was mainly down to large positive gains in the US Gulf, which has seen a 38,000-dwt fixing a trip from the Mississippi River to the Mediterranean with an intended cargo of grains at $35,000.
• This was up from last week when a similar trip was fixed at around $28,000. East Cost South America continued to soften with a 34,000-dwt fixing from Recalada to Kaliningrad with grains at $34,000.
• In the Eastern Mediterranean a 31,000-dwt was fixed for a trip via the Black Sea to Brazil at $37,000 and a 38,000-dwt fixed from the Black Sea to China with an intended cargo of Soda ash at $60,500.

Tankers

-VLCC

• The Far Eastern holidays meant that activity eased back this week, although there were a few reported fixtures in the Middle East and West Africa, with rates remaining flat. In the Middle East Gulf 280,000mt to US Gulf (via the Cape/Cape routing) is still at the WS20.5-21 mark while 270,000mt to China was a steady WS40.5-41 (showing a roundtrip TCE of about $1.7k per day).
• In the Atlantic, rates for 260,000mt West Africa to China were static at WS42.5-43 level (a TCE of $5k/day roundtrip) and 270,000mt US Gulf to China rose $220k to $5.375m (a TCE of $9.8k per day roundtrip).

-Suezmax

• In West Africa the rate for 130,000mt Nigeria/UK Continent was boosted by 10 points to a touch over WS64 (a roundtrip TCE of about $3.2k/day), while the rate for 135,000mt Black Sea/Med saw a similar rise to WS73 (a TCE roundtrip of about minus $100 per day).
• The Middle East market continues to be active with reports of a few fixtures at WS30 and then WS35 and we are now seeing this in the assessment of 140,000mt Basrah/Lavera at WS35.5, up eight points week-on-week.

-Aframax

• In the Mediterranean, the market firmed and broke through the WS100 barrier on the back of steady enquiry and a tightening position list. Rates for 80,000mt Ceyhan/Lavera rose seven points to WS107 ($8.2k per day TCE roundtrip), while in Northern Europe the market for 80,000mt Cross-North Sea saw rates improve nine points to just short of WS106 ($170/day TCE roundtrip).
• Rates for the 100,000mt Baltic/UK Continent route progressed 15 points to WS78-78.5 region (a TCE of about $3.8k per day roundtrip).

-Clean

• The Middle East Gulf has generally continued to trade off this week. The LR2s to Japan appeared to lack cargoes, evident by the drop in rates to sub WS100. TC1 has dropped 6.5 points to WS97.43, a round-trip TCE of $5,458/day.
• The LR1s have seen steady activity and freight levels have only dropped WS2.14 points this week. TC5 55k Middle East Gulf / Japan is now at WS102.86. On the MR 35k Middle East Gulf / East Africa (TC17) there has not been sufficient demand and freight levels have fallen to WS172.92 (-WS21.66).