Dry bulk freights suffered a steep decline over the past four weeks. The severest drops were recorded in the supramax[ds_preview] and the panamax sectors, although the picture would change week after week.
Around the middle/end of November, it was the capesize segment where rate levels eroded at the fastest pace from day to day. The Baltic Dry Index is down 29% month-on-month, extending its losing streak since early September. Capesize ships recorded the heaviest falls in the Atlantic which brokers explained with another lull in fixing activity for iron ore ex Brazil and for coal within the Atlantic.
Steel production in China, which drives a lot of demand, showed some weakness with its the first year-on-year decline in monthly output for almost two years. Panamaxes, which suffered a 35% fall in average time charter rates, have been confronted with growing import restrictions for coal in China, a slowdown in Atlantic grain chartering and ongoing disruption of bauxite loading in Guinea, brokers reported. For supramaxes, the export ban for nickel ore in Indonesia coupled with slower coal activity into China is likely to exerted high pressure on rates. Across Asia, fresh cargoes for handysize bulkers were lacking throughout the month.
By contrast, the MPP charter market bucked the negative trend, with the Toepfer Multipurpose Index for 12,500 dwt class ships rising to $ 7,578 in November (from $ 7,515 in October). Brokers said that there was generally more parcelling activity for cargoes in Asia and also a spillover of mineral volumes in Australia.
mph
