Ocean Freight Comments
Transportation and Export Report: Jay O’Neil, O’Neil Commodity Consulting: Yes, dry-bulk freight markets are behaving like a duck swimming in circles. Freight markets cannot find their bearings nor decide which direction to take. We have been watching a standoff between vessel owners fighting the market urge to soften and charterers who have not had a reason to pay up. Maybe the owners’ persistence will pay off now that there is news of China returning to the U.S. soybean market. However, the true test will be the size/volume of commitments/purchases. We all know that soybeans alone cannot hold dry-bulk freight markets up; it will take improvement in overall commodity demand to do that. We will have to see what happens before we get too far into the holidays.
The charts below represent 2018 YTD totals versus 2017 annual totals for container shipments to Vietnam.
