Handysize Trajectory up on Grains and Nickel
THE spot market for handysize bulkers is set to remain bullish on healthy demand for vessels to carry grains from east coast South America and the Black Sea, and nickel ore cargoes from the Philippines.
According to MANA, Following an impressive market, the weighted time charter average on the Baltic exchange hit $6,815 per day on Friday, up 3.5% on week and the highest level in a month.
The Baltic handysize index rose to 467 points from the week-ago level of 451.
The United States Department of Agriculture estimates that global wheat exports will reach another record of 180.3m tonnes, up 4.3% year on year, due to bumper harvests in many top exporter countries and low world prices.
Furthermore, consulting agency UkrAgroConsult said in a report that Egypt and Bangladesh would remain the most attractive markets for Black Sea wheat. This is likely to favour the handysize segment by adding extra tonne-miles.
Freight rates on all benchmark trade lanes improved, with the HS3 route, Rio de Janeiro-Recalada trip to Skaw-Passero, registering the biggest gain.
Rates on the journey surged by 6.7% over the week to close at $9,736 a day on Friday.
The HS1 route, Skaw-Passero trip to Rio de Janeiro-Recalada, jumped by 13.7% week on week and was assessed at $5,590 per day on Friday.
On HS4, the US Gulf trip via US Gulf or north coast South America to Skaw-Passero route, the market was trading at $8,904 per day, up 2.9% compared with the previous week.
Meanwhile, there is a sense that sentiments have turned more positive in the short-turn, with Allied shipbroking expecting further gains to be seen over the next couple of days.
According to Clarksons, three fixtures were reported in the spot market, which included a steel shipment from Japan to Thailand at $6,750 a day, an agri-product shipment from South Brazil to the continent at $9,900 per day, and a trip from China to Japan at $7,750 a day.