Capesize recovery contrasts with weaker Atlantic grain freight markets

Capesize freight markets strengthened across both basins during the week, but the recovery contrasted with pressure on grain-carrying vessels in the Atlantic. Hellenic Shipping News — Dry Bulk, carrying a Baltic Exchange report, said the BCI 182 five-route timecharter average rose from $33,795 on Monday to $37,420 on Friday as fixing activity increased and sentiment improved.

Pacific C5 fixtures moved from the high $13s to around $14 early in the week into the low $15s by Thursday, before activity slowed and offers were discussed below $15 towards the close. On the South Brazil and West Africa routes to China, C3 rates climbed from the mid-$34s to the high $36s as the list of ballasting vessels tightened. With most late-November cargoes covered, chartering attention increasingly turned to December shipments.

Panamax conditions were weaker, particularly in the Atlantic, where limited cargo enquiry and growing vessel availability favoured charterers. Thin transatlantic demand and subdued grain and mineral business offered little rate support. An 82,000-dwt vessel secured a transatlantic grain round voyage at $17,500, while a 79,000-dwt vessel fixed an Atlantic trip with delivery on South America’s east coast at $25,000. Ballasting from the Indian Ocean added pressure to South American fronthaul employment, although demand improved towards the week’s end. The P5TC nevertheless declined throughout the week.

Smaller bulkers also faced deteriorating Atlantic conditions. The report linked falling US Gulf rates to scarce grain and petroleum coke cargoes. A 63,000-dwt vessel fixed grain to China via the Cape of Good Hope at $28,500, with that direction reportedly its only option. Further south, competition from larger Panamax ships weighed on the market: an early-week fixture from Recalada to the East paid a 63,000-dwt vessel $19,750 plus a $975,000 ballast bonus.

Handysize trading remained quiet, with the HS7TC average ending slightly below the previous week’s close. East Coast South America remained the strongest Atlantic area, although rates appeared to level off, while the US Gulf weakened in the latter half of the week. Nearby vessel shortages supported the Continent, but limited fresh enquiry constrained the Mediterranean. In the northern Pacific, rates edged higher, including a 39,000-dwt vessel open in South Korea fixing to West Coast Central America at $19,000.