Ocean Freight Comments
The ocean freight markets finally found bottom and bounced off of it. However, this does not mean that the fundamentals have changed enough to support a big rally. It just means the market has probably stopped declining for the moment and may be starting to stabilize at slightly higher rates than we have seen over the last month.This will at least help to pay for the higher fuel costs even if it does not return vessel operators to profitability.
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 South Korea.
