Capesize spot rates continued to recover lost territory across the key trades on Tuesday as C Transport Maritime (CTM) locked in a Diana Shipping vessel for a year.
The day's fixture action saw rising rates for iron ore runs to China both from Brazil and Western Australia.
Tai Chong Cheang Steamship's 180,000-dwt KWK Legacy (built 2011) scored a $27 per tonne iron ore fixture for a journey from Tuburao in Brazil to Qingdao, China. The charterer was not disclosed.
The rate was somewhat higher than the last-done deal for a similar journey at $23.45 per tonne on Thursday, which involved a larger cargo stem.
"Limited gossip circulated from the Atlantic basin but most brokers saw the rates remaining firm," said the Baltic Exchange in its daily report.
In the Atlantic, Rio Tinto has booked a 169,000-dwt ship for a journey from Dampier to Qingdao at $13.50 per tonne, and there was talk of the miner grabbing another vessel at $14.25 per tonne.
That compares to last-done fixtures at $11.70 to $12.25 per tonne on Friday for Western Australia to China voyages.
The fixtures helped push the 5TC — an average of spot market earnings in the capesize sector — to $33,631 per day, the highest level since 1 November.
Rates are still well below their peak in early October, when the 5TC neared $87,000 per day.
But Breakwave Advisors, which runs a dry bulk exchange-traded fund, said there are factors that point to a rally ahead, despite continued bearishness over China's soft industrial activity.
"Coal demand remains strong across most regions, especially ex-China, port congestion persists at relatively high levels versus history, and winter weather is already causing further disruptions and delays in shipping operations, more recently at Chinese ports," the firm said on Tuesday.
In the period market, John Michael Radziwill-led CTM signed up for an $11.9m charter of Diana's 174,000-dwt Semirio (built 2007).
The vessel will earn $19,700 per day, minus a 5% commission, for a charter that runs through 15 August 2023 at the earliest, with the latest redelivery date on 15 November of the same year.
The deal is somewhat longer than the term on three period charters that New York-listed Diana forged on Monday.
It comes as term charter rates have been on the decline, with Clarksons assessing earnings one-year charters at $22,000 per day on Friday, down from a peak of $35,600 per day in early October.
While Diana's latest fixture comes in below that rate, it is higher than the $17,750 per day that the shipbroking giant estimated that a three-year charter would earn.
The deal also marks improved earnings for the Semirio, which had been earning $13,500 per day, minus commission, on its last charter.
Also rebounding on Tuesday were panamax bulker rates, with the Baltic Exchange's average of time-charter earnings inching up $380 to $21,000 per day.
