The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, hit a near 12-week low on Tuesday, with all three of its component indexes hitting multi-month lows. The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax shipping vessels, fell 61 points, or over 2.8%, to 2,098 points, its lowest since April 13. The capesize index slipped 144 points, or nearly 6.5%, to 2,084 points, its lowest in more than 10 weeks. Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such ...

Much of the focus on sanctions on Russia’s commodity exports is on crude oil and natural gas, but coal is perhaps the best example of the challenges facing those seeking to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine. Russia is the world’s fourth-largest coal exporter behind Australia, Indonesia and South Africa, and has the ability to supply both the Atlantic and Pacific basins. Europe, the main buyer of Russian coal, has proposed a ban on imports but it has yet to be fully implemented, while Japan also plans to end ...

Dalian iron ore futures rose on Tuesday with the market gaining for the first time in four sessions on expectations of lower U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods, although fears of a global recession capped gains. Asian shares eked out their best day in a week as positive economic data and hints of easing Sino-U.S. tensions offered some respite after recent sell-offs, though fears of sky-high inflation tempered the mood. The most-traded iron ore on the Dalian Commodity Exchange closed 1.4% higher at 742.5 yuan ($110.87) a tonne. On the Singapore ...

Today, Tuesday, July 05 2022 , the Baltic Dry Index decreased by 61 points, reaching 2098 points.

The government has decided to put its import substitution plan for coal on the back-burner till domestic production of the fuel touches a 1-billion-tonne mark. The move is in view of the surge in demand for the fuel amid fast-increasing electricity consumption in an economy struggling to come out of a slump. India’s coal production stood at 777 million tonne (MT) in FY22, up 8.6% on year. State-run Coal India made up for 80% of the domestic output even in the last financial year. A series of steps taken by ...

The reshaping of global dry bulk trade flows by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which was expected to boost shipping demand, could face headwinds in the third quarter on the back of a deteriorating global economic climate caused by surging commodity prices, interest rates and inflation. Platts Cape T4 index, a trade flow-based weighted average of four key Capesize routes, at an average of only $18,072/d over the second quarter of 2022 compared with $25,796/d and $25,523/d for APSI 5 and KMAX 9, a trade flow-based weighted average of five key Supramax ...

The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, dropped towards an 11-week low on Monday, on lower demand across all vessel types. The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax, and supramax shipping vessels, fell 55 points, or nearly 2.5%, to 2,159 points, its lowest since April 20. The capesize index lost 153 points, or 6.4%, to 2,228 points. Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, fell $1,264 to $18,481. Meanwhile, Dalian ...

China’s covid lockdowns and recessionary risks hit iron ore Iron ore prices have fallen significantly from their year-to-date high of US$171/t seen back in March to as low as $108/t recently. China’s attempts to squash outbreaks of Covid-19 have seen fairly tough restrictions, which have not been supportive for demand. In addition, there are growing concerns over the macro-outlook. Soaring inflation is seeing central banks, particularly the US Federal Reserve having to take a more aggressive approach to monetary tightening. The concern is that the Fed will struggle to rein ...

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and hopes of significant economic stimulus in China are combining to boost Australia’s commodity exports to record levels, at least for now. Australia’s exports of natural resources are forecast at a record A$405 billion ($275.4 billion) in the 2021-22 financial year, which ended on June 30, and will likely rise to a new high of A$419 billion in 2022-23. However, the latest Resources and Energy Quarterly from the government forecaster also predicts a fairly steep drop in commodity earnings thereafter to A$338 billion in 2023-24, as ...

Dalian and Singapore iron ore futures tumbled on Monday, weighed by a gloomy demand outlook for the steelmaking ingredient in China, where many steel mills are nursing losses and cutting production. The most-traded September iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange ended daytime trade 5.8% lower at 719.50 yuan ($107.49) a tonne, extending losses to a third session and touching its lowest since June 23. On the Singapore Exchange, the front-month August contract was down 4.8% at $109.15 a tonne, as of 0709 GMT. Mills in top steel producer ...

Today, Monday, July 04 2022 , the Baltic Dry Index decreased by 55 points, reaching 2159 points.

Capesize A mild week for the Capesize sector saw rates trundling sideways with small pockets of encouragement. However, there was nothing to initiate a push out of the recent trading range as the 5TC softened 130 week-on-week to settle at $19,745. A brief lift midweek gave some suggestion that a strengthening of sentiment in the Atlantic was imminent. But by Friday this spark looks to have been snuffed out as the Transatlantic C8 settled down slightly at $26,167. Market views on the Atlantic situation have been mixed as some stronger ...

China has finished clearing a backlog of stranded Australian coal amounting to over $1 billion, China customs data shows. But analysts say it’s not likely that Chinese coal buyers will start purchasing new supplies of Australian coal anytime soon. That’s because coal inventories have been building up, local production is higher, and there are now higher supplies from exporters such as Russia purchased at a discount. Since October, Beijing has been unloading cargoes of Australian coal stranded outside Chinese ports after the world’s second largest economy experienced one of its ...

Export sales of U.S. soybeans fell well below the forecasts of grain traders, with old-crop sales being reduced for the week amid cancellations of previously announced sales. In its weekly report covering sales for the week ended June 23, the USDA said that old-crop sales of soybeans were reduced by 120,200 metric tons, driven largely by the cancellation of 288,400 tons of previously announced sales to unknown destinations. New crop sales for the week only slightly offset this reduction, leaving the net total at 7,400 tons. Grain traders surveyed by ...

In a clear sign of the turbulent times we’re experiencing, coal imports have began making their way into Europe with more cargoes entering the EU market. It’s a response to the scramble to offset the losses of Russian gas. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Allied Shipbroking said that “amidst the significant energy squeeze being felt in Europe and Asia, coal has once again found a foothold to expand its presence in the energy mix of many economies worldwide. With most energy commodity prices having already started off the year ...