Global Energy Monitor’s latest Global Coal Plant Tracker has put another nail in the coffin for the coal-carrying fleet with its finding that the world’s fleet of coal-fired power stations reduced for the first time on record in the first half of this year. More capacity retired in the first half of 2020 than opened and now stands at 2,047GW, down 2.9GW. The decline is attributed to “slowed commissioning” due to the Covid-19 pandemic and record retirements in the European Union in response to stronger pollution regulations. Dr Christine Shearer, ...

In the Cape-size sector, the market rates weakened because cargo movements of iron ore became sluggish worldwide due to the spread of COVID-19 and unfavorable weather conditions in production sites in Brazil and also because a large vessel supply surplus arose due to an excessive concentration of shipments to China, which remained robust, in short-distance sources. However, toward the end of the three-month period, market rates rose rapidly due to a recovery in exports from Brazil. In the medium and small vessel sector, cargo movements were sluggish worldwide because of ...

Today, Wednesday, August 05 2020, the Baltic Dry Index climbed by 12 points, reaching 1475 points.

Today, Tuesday, August 04 2020, the Baltic Dry Index climbed by 78 points, reaching 1463 points.

Today, Monday, August 03 2020, the Baltic Dry Index climbed by 35 points, reaching 1385 points.

Capesize A quiet end to the week could not disguise the improved sentiment in the capesize market, with several brokers suggesting that this may simply represent a precursor to another move upwards. The timecharter average climbed $1,282 to close at $18,296, driven predominantly by the Brazil and Australian round voyages on continued iron ore demand strength. The C3 Brazil-China route gained $1.53 to close at $17.47, whilst the C5 Australia-China route posted $1.16 to close at $7.155 on the week. Sentiment was also such that a brace of weak backhaul ...

Exporters in the United States will have a busy start to the upcoming marketing year after the record or near-record soybean and corn sales this month, though they will have to keep an eye on shipments out of Brazil, which will continue to compete with U.S. supplies well into next year. The South American country is the No. 1 exporter of soybeans and in the top three in corn. Brazil’s soy supplies should soon be winding down to give way to U.S. exports, though next month’s shipments may be at ...

The Brazilian wheat crop has the potential to surpass 7 million tonnes this year and reach a record, provided the weather remains favorable throughout the cycle that has just begun, according to analysts interviewed by Reuters. An expected rise in investment from Brazilian farmers who had a profitable soybean season in the summer and can divert funds into wheat, driving yields higher, will also boost production, they said. With wheat planting complete in southern states including Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul, and harvesting to begin around August, a survey ...

Vale is “sticking to” plans to produce at a run-rate of 400 million mt/year iron ore in 2022, should the market need this, and will exercise its “value over volume” mantra in further planned mine expansions, company executives said July 30. The planned 2022 run-rate will compare to the company’s expected production this year of 310 million mt of iron ore, which will be at the lower end of its 2020 guidance, the company’s Executive Director for Ferrous Minerals Marcello Spinelli told analysts on a call to discuss the company’s ...

Ship owners in the dry bulk market have been adding more tonnage, as demand is picking up. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Intermodal said that “the dry bulk sector is beginning to recover from reduced SnP activity recorded in the first quarter of 2020. The table below illustrates that approximately 66% of SnP transactions have ensued in the past two and a half months; 31%, 40% and 28% of which occurred in July (to date), June and May respectively. Contrarily, SnP transactions were at their lowest levels in March ...

The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index edged higher for the third straight session, propped up by stronger rates for the panamax vessel segment. The Baltic dry index, which tracks rates for ships ferrying dry bulk commodities and reflects rates for capesize, panamax and supramax vessels, was 2 points higher at 1,350. The Baltic capesize index eased 4 points to 2,206. Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport cargoes of 170,000 tonnes to 180,000 tonnes, including iron ore and coal, fell $30 to $18,296. The panamax index rose 24 ...

Chinese buyers booked their single biggest-ever purchase of U.S. corn, extending their flurry of large U.S. purchases even as tensions between Washington and Beijing rise. The U.S. Agriculture Department said on Thursday that private exporters sold 1.937 million tonnes of corn to China for delivery in the 2020/21 marketing year. That topped the previous biggest deal to China of 1.762 million tonnes, reported just two weeks ago. In a separate report, the USDA said soybean sales to China rose to 1.925 million tonnes in the week ended July 23, the ...

China could buy 12.5-13 million mt of soybeans from the US in the fourth quarter of 2020 as South American supplies run dry, Archer Daniel Midland CEO Juan Luciano said July 30. In the company’s second-quarter 2020 earnings call, Luciano said China is “taking all the actions that reflect their intention to comply” with the Phase 1 trade deal reached with the US. Under the deal finalized earlier in 2020, China committed to buy $40 billion of US agricultural goods in a year. Despite the rhetoric and geopolitical escalations seen ...

Indonesia, the world’s top exporter of thermal coal, is stepping up efforts to diversify sales of the fuel as shipments to top buyer India slump and with exports to China poised to slow. Indonesia is using diplomatic channels to promote sales around the region, from Vietnam to Pakistan and Bangladesh, a government spokesman said, as it seeks to offset a fall in annual exports and a global shift towards cleaner energy. While Vietnam’s growing appetite for thermal coal is unlikely to match that of sizeable markets like China and India, ...

Today, Friday, July 31 2020, the Baltic Dry Index climbed by 2 points, reaching 1350 points.