Ocean Freight Comments
Transportation and Export Report: Jay O’Neil, O’Neil Commodity Consulting: Ocean freight markets tried to rally a little this week but ran out of fuel by week’s end.
The Capesize iron ore trade between western Australia and China moved up close to $0.25MT before settling back to be unchanged for the week. The Atlantic Panamax trade was able to stabilize for the moment but the Pacific markets continue to be quite soft.
Determining the best rates in this buyers’ market requires putting out a bid. The spot and 20-day market remains the weakest with vessel owners refusing to let go of forward tonnage for September and October unless they can get a $3.00-4.50MTt premium over nearby values.
The below rate indications are for the 30-45 day market; spot prices can be lower.
Below is a recent history of freight values for Capesize vessels of iron ore from Western Australia to China:
The charts below represent January-December 2013 annual totals versus January-May 2014 container shipments for Vietnam.
