Ocean Freight Comments
Transportation and Export Report: Jay O’Neil, O’Neil Commodity Consulting: For most of the week the Baltic Indices were up and trying to make the market look stronger. The BDI is actually up to a three month high, though it did not take much of a move to accomplish that. This indicates that some traders have been a little optimistic and willing to pay up slightly for long-term vessel time charters. But the increased indexes have not yet translated into much better rates in the physical markets. Business from East Coast South America to Asia is finding decent cargo demand, but vessel demand from North America and especially the Pacific is still wanting. There have been rumors of as many as 20 Supramax vessels spot in the U.S. Gulf looking for work. So, all in all I don’t see any big changes and that will leave most rates generally unchanged for the week. This is not a bullish market.
Below is a recent history of freight values for Capesize vessels of iron ore from Western Australia to South China:
The charts below represent January-December 2014 annual totals versus year-to-date 2015 container shipments to South Korea.
