Ocean Freight Comments
Transportation and Export Report: Jay O’Neil, O’Neil Commodity Consulting: China and much of Asia are out on holiday. It is the Lunar New February 8-13, 2016. Global freight markets are therefore very quiet, but that is a relative description as things have been slow for many months even without a holiday. All-in-all ocean freight markets are just bouncing along bottom. Markets can’t really go much lower but do not have the support to move up. So we have arrived at bit of a standoff. Now we wait to see what shippers go into cold lay-up, who goes bankrupt and who continues to operate. The Baltic Panamax index did move up a little this week but I don’t see that it has affected rates in the physical market.
The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) announces that sill reinforcements in the new locks have been completed this week, bringing the Panama Canal Expansion one step closer to the projected June 2016 inauguration. The maximum vessel draft recommendation at the South West Pass to the Mississippi River remains at 41 feet.
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 South Korea.
