China’s soybean buyers are asking exporters to sign a letter guaranteeing their cargoes are not contaminated with the novel coronavirus, U.S., Brazilian and Canadian soy industry officials said. China is trying to prevent any risk of new COVID-19 infections from imported goods as it takes aggressive measures to contain a recent spike in coronavirus infections linked to a sprawling wholesale food market in Beijing. Most international authorities say there is no evidence that the coronavirus can be transmitted from food to people. Two grain export traders told Reuters that their ...

The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index gained on Wednesday, on robust demand across all vessel segments. The Baltic dry index, which tracks rates for ships ferrying dry bulk commodities and reflects rates for capesize, panamax and supramax vessels, rose 88 points, or 5.4%, to 1,705, its highest since Oct. 31. The index has soared more than four-fold after slipping to a low of 393 points in May, after coronavirus-induced lockdowns hammered global trade and vessel demand. The Baltic capesize index gained 213 points, or 5.4%, to 4,189, its highest ...

Soybean trading activity in China has not been affected by recent requests from the customs department to provide documents guaranteeing all imported cargoes are free of any coronavirus contamination, market sources said June 24. Chinese soybean importers are continuing to import cargoes from the US to cover demand for October and November, the sources added. Chinese customs officials have been asking soybean exporters in the US and Brazil to provide documents guaranteeing their cargoes are free of virus contamination, according to media reports and market participants S&P Global Platts spoke ...

Today, Wednesday, June 24 2020, the Baltic Dry Index climbed by 88 points, reaching 1705 points.

U.S. soybean sales to China have finally started to resemble the pre-trade war era, but amid massive Brazilian shipments and the record build in Chinese soybean stocks, one cannot help wondering whether China will end up needing as many soybeans as the United States hopes to export later in the year. As of June 11, China had 3.05 million tonnes of U.S. soybeans booked for delivery in 2020-21, which starts on Sept. 1. That is China’s largest new-crop total for the date since 2014. (https://tmsnrt.rs/3fOzeWO) Since June 11, China has ...

The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index touched its highest level in more than seven months on Tuesday, as rates across all vessel segments rose on increasing trading activity. The Baltic dry index, which tracks rates for ships ferrying dry bulk commodities and reflects rates for capesize, panamax and supramax vessels, rose 59 points, or 3.8%, to 1,617, its highest since Nov. 5. The index has soared more than fourfold after slipping to a low of 393 points in May, when coronavirus-induced lockdowns hammered global trade and vessel demand. “The ...

Capesize freight rates rose to their highest yet this year as a resurgence in the Chinese steel industry drove up Brazilian exports of iron ore due for delivery to China next month, Argus Media reports. The compiler of commodities data says rates for freight on Capesize ships bound from the eastern Chinese port of Qingdao from the southeastern Brazilian port of Tubarão rose to US$19.65 per tonne last week, over twice the sum two weeks before. The report says steel output has been gradually growing in China, depleting stocks of ...

China’s agriculture ministry on Tuesday issued genetically modified (GM) safety certificates for two new varieties of soybean imports, a sign of further loosening restrictions on GM crops in the world’s biggest grains market. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs also renewed safety certificates for six other GM crops for import – for five varieties of corn and another soybean crop – according to a statement published on its website. Source: Reuters (Reporting by Min Zhang, Judy Hua and Se Young Lee; Editing by Tom Hogue)

Today, Tuesday, June 23 2020, the Baltic Dry Index climbed by 59 points, reaching 1617 points.

The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index inched higher on Monday, helped by stronger demand for panamax and supramax vessels. The Baltic dry index, which tracks rates for ships ferrying dry bulk commodities and reflects rates for capesize, panamax and supramax vessels, rose 3 points to 1,558, its highest since Dec. 6. The index on Friday posted its biggest weekly gain ever, underpinned by a rebound in global commodities trading as iron ore demand from China picked up. The Baltic capesize index fell from a nine-month high by 28 points, ...

Today, Monday, June 22 2020, the Baltic Dry Index climbed by 3 points, reaching 1558 points.

The iron ore supply shortage that has helped support high prices in recent months looks set to continue with Vale likely to struggle to meet its iron ore shipments target for 2020. Vale has maintained its iron ore fines production guidance of 310 million-330 million mt in 2020 despite the suspension of activity at its Itabira mining operations in Brazil in early June due to the coronavirus outbreak. Vale was told by state inspectors in Minas Gerais that it can reopen the Itabira complex, the company said on June 17. ...

Dry bulk shipowners have had solid reasons to smile this week and rightfully so. The physical market recorded an impressive rally and fixtures reported seem unable to “beat the index” as it is breaking records day by day. Same rally was followed by the futures market too, although somewhat corrected as we are concluding the week. Capesize cheers The market’s upturn was much anticipated since we are exiting depressing lows and these deep dives of the freight market tend to not last too long. Especially when the hit the dry ...

Capesize The Capesize market trajectory this week has been one of the steepest rallies the sector has experienced. Opening at $12,410, the sector had almost doubled to $25,511 by the end of the week as the Atlantic basin surged into life. A barrage of negative fundaments in recent times has weighed heavily on Cape demand and pushed imbalances into the fleet positioning. Strengthening iron ore demand in the Far East has been answered by fronthaul loading location sparking a revival of sorts. The Atlantic Basin, bereft of business weeks back, ...

The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index, which tracks rates for ships ferrying dry commodities around the world, posted its biggest weekly gain ever, underpinned by a rebound in global commodities trading as iron ore demand from China picked up. The 35-year old index, which reflects rates for capesize, panamax and supramax ships, has now surged nearly 300% since tumbling to a low of 393 points in May following a freeze in global trade due to coronavirus-led lockdowns. “Most of the strength is due to increased Chinese steel mill demand ...