OCEAN FREIGHT COMMENTS
Transportation and Export Report: Jay O’Neil, O’Neil Commodity Consulting: Last week I stated that ocean freight rates were moving up and down like the tide. This week they continued to act this way. Two weeks ago, the markets were lower week-over-week. Last week they went up; what went up last week went back down this week. So, from a cost perspective, things are simply moving in circles. We are two weeks away from the Lunar New Year and I do not believe anyone wants to make any big moves prior to the holiday break.
Below is a recent history of freight values for Capesize vessels of iron ore from Western Australia to South China:
The charts below represent 2017 annual totals versus 2016 annual totals for container shipments to South Korea.
