Ocean Freight Comments
Transportation and Export Report: Jay O’Neil, O’Neil Commodity Consulting: Global Dry-Bulk ocean freight markets continued to steam south this week. That is, global freight markets continued to readjust by giving back the gains made in the month of July. The rally that freight owners thought to be a sign of a true market turn around ended up being short lived as the weight of available vessels came to bear on the market. We simply do not yet have the global economic growth needed to support the necessary increase in seaborne cargo demand. So, it is back to the drawing board for freight owners and their financial backers as it seems the market turnaround is still over the horizon.
According to SSY: “Total dry bulk carrier newbuilding deliveries for the year to date have reached 369 vessels (30.89 MDWT). This comprised 69 Capesize vessels (13.05 MDWT), 81 Panamax vessels (6.66 MDWT), 133 Handymax vessels of 40,000-64,999 DWT (8.11 MDWT) and 86 Handysize vessels (3.08 MDWT).”
Below is a recent history of freight values for Capesize vessels of iron ore from Western Australia to China:
The charts below represent year-to-date 2016 versus January-December 2015 annual totals for container shipments to Taiwan.
