Petrofin Research’s latest annual survey of the Hellenic-owned fleet, yielded some very interesting conclusions. It appears that the Greek fleet, although maintaining an overall robust growth, took a small breather last year. It can be argued that the frenetic activity both in newbuildings and S&P transactions could not continue at the same pace. However, we can detect some key points that shaped last year. Petrofin said in its analysis that “the dry bulk market experienced a good year, in terms of both vessel values and incomes. However, as the year ...

Capesize The big ships endured heavy losses last week extinguishing any hopes from the recent minor rally. Negative sentiment gained pace throughout the week, Cyclone Veronica developed in North-Western Australia prompting Port Hedland and Dampier to issue port closure notices, expected to last in-excess of 48 hours. Miners were largely absent through the latter part of the week, as route C5 traded sharply down to $5.00. Mid-week saw a short-lived bump in freight on South Africa/Qingdao tender cargo as the slim ballaster fleet showed signs of pressure points, with many ...

The number of Chinese ports restricting or delaying Australian coal imports has continued to rise, threatening to end the export bonanza that is bloating federal coffers and signalling possible painful long-term structural change to the economy. In an ominous development for Australia’s trade balance and federal budget, traders and buyers in China reported on Thursday that the hold-ups for Australian shipments that began in February have spread from the northern port of Dalian to Fuzhou in the south-eastern Fujian province and Rizhao in Qingdao. Industry news agency Platts reported one ...

The iron ore exporting Port Hedland and Port Dampier in Western Australia have been cleared of commercial vessels in preparation of a severe tropical cyclone, which is expected to make landfall in the region on Sunday, the Pilbara Ports Authority said Friday. “As of 12 pm (AWST) severe tropical cyclone Veronica was located north-northwest of Port Hedland. The system is forecast to generally track in a southerly direction towards the Pilbara coast and is currently expected to make landfall between Karratha and Port Hedland on Sunday,” it said. “All ports ...

Today, Friday, March 22 2019, the Baltic Dry Index decreased by 5 points, reaching 690 points.

Farmers in Brazil and Argentina are concerned about Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s agreement to import 750,000 tonnes of wheat from the United States and other countries outside the Mercosur trade bloc without the 10 percent tariff that is usually required for such purchases. Wheat growers in Argentina’s Pampas farm belt said if the deal was permanent, and not just a one-off, then it would certainly have a negative impact given that Brazil is the main buyer of Argentine wheat exports. The United States and Brazil announced steps aimed at lowering ...

Predicting the future course of the dry bulk market has proven to be more than difficult these days, with most estimates falling way off the mark given the unpredictability of freight rates and the effect of one-off events, like the recent Vale accident, which took out of the market a major part of dry bulk cargoes. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Allied Shipbroking said that “it is rather superfluous to mention the overall bearish mode that has taken grip of the dry bulk sector right now. With the BDI ...

FFA market goes ‘back to its routes’ with the launch of cleared futures contract enabling users to hedge booming Brazil-China grains trade Freight Investor Services, the global leader in freight and commodity derivatives, has helped usher in a new era in dry bulk futures trading with the launch of the Baltic Exchange Panamax P8 grains route. The new route offers shipowners and grains market players on the key Brazil-China soyabeans route a complementary method of hedging to the existing Panamax P2A route. At current pricing of $32.042/tonne FIS estimates that ...

Macarthur Minerals Limited is pleased to announce that it has entered into a binding Life-of-Mine Off-Take Agreement (“Agreement”) with Glencore International A.G. (“Glencore”) for sale of iron ore to be produced from the Lake Giles Iron Project (“Project”) at Lake Giles in the Yilgarn region of Western Australia from the commencement of commercial production. Cameron McCall, Executive Chairman of Macarthur Minerals commented; “I am extremely excited to see Glencore’s commitment to purchase Macarthur’s production over the long term. Securing this approximately US$4 billion purchase arrangement ensures consistent long-term revenue to ...

Today, Thursday, March 21 2019, the Baltic Dry Index decreased by 14 points, reaching 695 points.

Growing coal demand in the Mediterranean and Middle East offers opportunities for US coal exporters, particularly as competing origins increase shipments to Asia, a spokesman for US exporter Xcoal said. “Asian demand is significant and will be significant going forward but it’s challenging for the US to participate in this market,” said Nicholas Cron, head of portfolio optimisation at Xcoal. “But Asian growth will pull more coal from Colombia and South Africa out of the Atlantic basin, which leaves a sort of vacuum, in which the US can participate,” he ...

Ship owners are ramping up their acquisitions of dry bulk carriers, on the expectation that the recent slump in the freight rate market could soon be over. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Banchero Costa said that “Scorpio Bulkers was very active last week with the one sale and leaseback deal and one strait sale deal. The first deal is for 3 x Ultramax and 4 x Kamsarmax to CMB Financial Leasing: the vessels are sold and chartered back to Scorpio for 7 years with purchase options from the third ...

An increasing number of Chinese ports are holding up Australian coal shipments, with long delays now being reported at Fuzhou port in the southeastern Fujian province, Rizhao in Qingdao and Yingkou in Dalian, according to traders and end-users in China. The delays indicate that Chinese imports of Australian coal remain constrained, forcing Chinese buyers to increasingly withdraw from Australian thermal coal purchases in the market amid uncertainties. The price of FOB Newcastle 5,500 kcal/kg NAR with maximum 23% ash product had risen to a high of $63.50/mt in January but ...

On March 6 and 12, NYK held emergency safety conferences in Imabari city and Tokyo, Japan, for 84 participants representing 35 Japanese shipowners and ship-management companies. These seminars are part of an effort by the company’s Dry Bulk Division to become the world’s leading dry bulk fleet. To eliminate accidents and to rapidly address safety requirements of global resource majors in recent years, NYK continues to work with shipowners and ship-management companies to improve the fleet. 1. Background The importance of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives is attracting a ...

Today, Wednesday, March 20 2019, the Baltic Dry Index decreased by 3 points, reaching 709 points.