Today, Monday, January 21 2019, the Baltic Dry Index decreased by 20 points, reaching 1092 points.

The dry bulk market’s fundamentals are still positive, given that during 2018 net fleet growth was quite low, at 3% despite the fact that demolitions stood at record low levels. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Banchero Costa said that “in 2018, deliveries of dry bulk carriers over 20,000 dwt fell to its lowest in a decade, coming in at 266 units equivalent to 27.3 mln dwt. This compares to 427 units totaling 37.1 mln dwt delivered in 2017, and the previous capacity low of 22.7 mln dwt comprising 300 ...

Capesize A positive end to a week that saw rates on the West Australia/China run slip below $6.00, as charterers faced a plentiful supply of tonnage. Rates below $6.00 prompted resistance, and after a clear out of tonnage, rates climbed back over $6.00 finishing the week in the upper $6.00s. Timecharter rates slipped under $10,000 daily for 180,000 tonners, but recovered ground, with a 2010 vessel fixing from CJK for an east Australia/India run at $12,000 with an option of China at $13,000. Brazil/China activity fluctuated, the pace quickened as ...

World coal seaborne trade grew 3.7 percent last year helped by higher output in India, Indonesia and Russia, Germany’s VDKI coal importers lobby said. Imports and exports rose to 1.202 billion tonnes from 1.159 billion tonnes in 2017, VDKI Managing Director Franz-Josef Wodopia said in an speech made available to Reuters. Of the total, trade in steam coal used in power stations rose by 3.6 percent to 920 million tonnes. Trade in coking coal used for steelmaking rose by 4.4 percent to 281 million tonnes, the VDKI (Verein der Kohlenimporteure) ...

Global miner Rio Tinto on Friday logged a slight drop in quarterly iron ore production in December and said it expected to produce more iron ore in 2019 in a target range that was at the lower end of analyst expectations. Mined copper production beat its guidance, mostly due to higher grades and better productivity at Rio Tinto’s Kennecott operations in the U.S. state of Utah, the company said in a statement. Rio’s fourth-quarter iron ore production stood at 86.6 million tonnes, down by 1 percent from the fourth quarter ...

Today, Friday, January 18 2019, the Baltic Dry Index climbed by 35 points, reaching 1112 points.

While the fourth quarter of 2018 didn’t live up to expectations, especially for the Capesize segment, it seems that ship owners can take heart in the fact that newbuilding orders were also significantly reduced, which is a quite significant silver lining. Allied Shipbroking said in its latest weekly report that “given the poor performance noted in the market as of late, a hefty amount of skepticism now prevails, with most now looking to decide where to put their faith in next. Yet it may well be worth taking a closer ...

Today, Thursday, January 17 2019, the Baltic Dry Index climbed by 22 points, reaching 1077 points.

Today, Wednesday, January 16 2019, the Baltic Dry Index decreased by 41 points, reaching 1055 points.

Capesize The cape market took some time to get going with a weaker market throughout the day. Jan traded early on at $14300 down to $14000 pre-index. Feb trading down to $12000 and q1 down to $12900. Weaker c5 fixtures down at $5.80 reported and index tanked to $14069 (-939). Post index we saw Jan trade down to $13900, Feb to $11750 and Q1 down to $12750. This brought the back end down also with Q2 $13250 and Q3 $16250 respectively. With this, buyers stepping back on the deferred with ...

Newbuilding ordering activity has started to pick up pace of late, while S&P deals are also on the rise, with more and more owners looking to conclude business deals. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Allied Shipbroking said that “despite the persisting pressure that is noted in the dry bulk freight market lately, activity in the newbuilding front remains at moderate levels, with owners foreseeing the stabilization of the rates in the following months. During the past week, 4 new orders were reported across different size segments, with the biggest ...

Anybody reading the commentary on China’s December trade figures would be left with the impression of an economy increasingly losing momentum amid a dispute with the United States. It was reasonable for analysts to zero in on the 4.4 percent drop in China’s December exports from a year earlier, a huge miss when a rise of 3 percent had been forecast. Imports also surprised on the downside, dropping 7.6 percent in December, the biggest decline since July 2016. The numbers do point to weakness in the world’s second-largest economy, and ...

Today, Tuesday, January 15 2019, the Baltic Dry Index decreased by 51 points, reaching 1096 points.

CAPESIZE Early news of force majeure being declared by Rio Tinto and a general lack of positivity in the cape market weighed heavily on sentiment in the morning session. Feb traded down to 12000 & Q1 12900 but despite there being very little volume, rates quickly stabilised on the run up to the index. The small drop on the indices did little to dampen rates any further and buyers did eventually return in the late afternoon which could have been attributed to more C3 activity although no firmer fixtures were ...

Coal is expected to become Australia’s most valuable export for the first time in nine years in fiscal 2018 ending June this year, as increasing concentration in the mining industry pushes up prices and exports to China and other countries in Asia rise. Iron ore prices, on the other hand, have continued to decline, dragged lower by falling Chinese demand. The shift in Australia’s resource exports also highlights its dependence on the state of the Chinese economy. Australia will export 67 billion Australian dollars ($47.8 billion) of coal in fiscal ...