Freight rates for
capesize bulk carriers on key Asian routes are likely to remain around current
levels as the market has too much tonnage for current cargo volumes, ship
brokers said.
“The miners of this
world have enough ships (to choose from). Cargo volumes are positive,” a
Singapore-based capesize ship broker said on Thursday.
That came as China
imported almost 82.2 million tonnes of iron ore in January, up 4.58 percent
from a year earlier, data from China’s General Administration of Customs
showed.
An increase in the
number of vessels sold for scrap and a growing number of idled vessels has had
little impact on improving freight rates, the broker added.
Around 30 capesize
vessels totalling 4.7 million deadweight tonnes have been sold to ship breakers
so far this year, a 99-percent increase on the same period last year, according
to data from British shipping services firm Clarkson.
About 70 capesize
vessels have been idled or are waiting for cargo in the Pacific, the broker
said, up from about 50 at the start of this year.
Owners of dry cargo
ships, including capesize vessels typically used to haul iron ore and coal,
have been hit by a perfect storm of huge order books and a slowdown in the
Chinese economy which has led to a collapse in freight rates and commodity
prices.
“Rates for a
Australia-China voyage have been trading in a range of between $2.85-$3.15 a
tonne (for the last two months) and they will continue to do that,” the broker
said.
“I think we need a
year of serious pain, bleeding, before there is any potential hope for an
improvement in 2017 or 2018,” the Singapore broker said.
“The capesize
market remains flat and uninspired,” Norwegian ship broker Fearnley said in a
note on Wednesday.
Capesize charter
rates for the Western Australia-China route slipped to $2.92 a tonne on
Wednesday, down from $3.07 on the same day last week. Rates for the
Brazil-China route nudged down to $5.72 per tonne on Wednesday, against $5.81
per tonne a week earlier. Hire rates have fluctuated between $5.30 and $5.80
for around six weeks.
Panamax rates for a
North Pacific round-trip voyage climbed to $2,926 per day, up from $2,807 last
week. That is the highest since Jan. 8, on stronger cargo volumes, although
panamax rates are under pressure, the Fearnley note said.
Freight rates for
smaller supramax vessels continued to rise on more chartering enquiries and
rates are above $4,000 per day for a voyage hauling coal from Indonesia to
India, Fearnley said.
The Baltic
Exchange’s main sea freight index rose to 322 on Wednesday compared with 307
last week.
Source: Hellenic
shipping news. 26 February 2016
No comments:
Post a Comment