Ocean Freight Comments
Transportation and Export Report: Jay O’Neil, O’Neil Commodity Consulting: Dry-bulk freight markets have not moved much in the past three weeks – and this is a pretty telling story. One market news article called the Panamax vessel market “lethargic.” As we all know, a bull market must be fed every day and this market is not getting much to feed on. Thus, rates remain soft as vessel owners wait for the much-anticipated improvement in cargo demand that has not yet surfaced. 2018 is not playing out as expected and the anticipated gradual improvement in dry-bulk freight rates is on hold, at least temporarily.
Below is a recent history of freight values for Capesize vessels of iron ore from Western Australia to South China:
The charts below represent 2018 YTD totals versus 2017 annual totals for container shipments to Vietnam.
