Average capesize bulker spot rates surged on Friday, ending the week with a fourth day of rebound as demand from major iron ore miners fed gains.
The Baltic Exchange’s Capesize 5TC index of key routes surged 12.7% on Friday to near $22,200 per day.
The rise marked a 28.5% surge since rates reached the bottom of the market crater on Monday, when the 5TC was at its lowest point since early February.
Helping fuel the gains was demand from Australian mining majors. Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals Group each picked up a capesize bulker for $10.60 per tonne of iron ore for voyages from Western Australia to China.
That was higher than the $10.30 to $10.40 per tonne rate signed a day earlier, and well above the $9.60 earned at the market’s nadir on Monday.
“There has been a considerable upswing in activity in both the Atlantic and Pacific,” Baltic Exchange analysts wrote in their daily report.
“All three miners have been present in the market today.”
Futures markets painted a more mixed picture, with June capesize contracts rising $357 to just over $30,200 per day and July contracts dipping $221 to about $28,700 per day.
But shipowner 2020 Bulkers saw signs of more upward momentum.
“We observe vessels drifting around for better times to come,” the Oslo-listed company said on X. “Sounds promising.”
