Ocean Freight Comments
Transportation and Export Report: Jay O’Neil, O’Neil Commodity Consulting: I know vessel owners are employing slow steaming practices but it now seems to be the same story for market rates and direction. Nothing is moving very fast or very much. It may be difficult to drop rates much from current levels, but it is even more difficult to sustain a rally in these markets. The Capesize vessel market discovered this in a big way this week. The rate adjustments on Central American routes are simply an adjustment to previous rates that were a little too aggressive. Freight Traders are saying that loadings out of South America are slowing considerably and that the market has adopted a very quiet tone at the end of the week. Of course, quiet markets are never bullish. So, it looks like we’ll have to wait 30-45 days and see what develops for new business from the fall harvest out of North America.
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 2014 annual totals versus year-to-date 2015 container shipments to Indonesia.
