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The dry bulk shipping sector recorded its best first-half performance in a decade, with rates for Capesize, Panamex and Supramax vessels reaching US$30,000/day, reported the Freight Waves on June 28th.
“This year’s remarkable recovery is yet to run out of steam,” Maritime Strategies International said in its latest forecast.
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Capesize vessel rates rose to US$33,300/day, according to Clarksons Platou Securities, while Panamax vessels were earning US$32,800/day and Supramaxes US$31,600/day.
It is rare for rates for all three size categories to reach US$30,000 simultaneously, as they did over a two-week period, according to the report. Panamax and Supramax rates were now at new highs for the year, with previous rates more than double the five-year average and Supramax rates more than triple, wrote the Freight Waves .
Oilseeds are generally transported on Panamax vessels, which can carry 60,000-100,000 dwt of cargo, as well as smaller Handymax (35,000-50,000 dwt) or Supramax (50,000-60,000 dwt) carriers.
Braemar ACM Shipbroking lead dry cargo analyst Nick Ristic told American Shipper that the market strength appeared to be coming from the smaller ships as opposed to the Capesizes (above 150,000 dwt).
“Trade in Handies [Handymaxes] and Supras [Supramaxes] has been extremely good, but for Capes it is average. There are a lot of regional inefficiencies and imbalances as a result of COVID that are keeping these markets tight, so with that in mind, we expect things to cool down as we get to the end of this year and into early 2022,” he said.
“We don't think rates will fall off a cliff, but given the underlying fundamentals, it doesn't look like these levels can be sustained for longer than that,” Ristic added.
The dry bulk market includes iron ore, coal, grains, oilseeds, steel, cement, forestry products, agricultural products, non-ferrous minerals and metals.
Source: Oils & Fats International (OFI)
