The dry bulk sector showed a glimmer of hope on Tuesday after falling steadily for two weeks to a two-month low.
The Baltic Dry Index (BDI), which serves as a barometer of the bulker market, picked up 24 points to reach 2,284 points.
Though modest, Tuesday’s gain marked the first time that the BDI improved after dropping slowly from 2,633 points on 1 June.
A limited number of capesize fixtures helped the Capesize 5TC spot-rate average across five key routes gain $511 per day to just over $19,000 per day.
“Overall, it was a quieter day compared with yesterday,” Baltic Exchange analysts wrote on Tuesday in their daily take on the dry bulk market.
“However, the 5TC climbed back to the positive territory with supports mainly from the Atlantic.”
They noted that the freight rate for the C3 route Tubarao, Brazil, to Qingdao, China, stayed above picked up $0.11 per tonne on Tuesday to achieve $31.18 per tonne.
“There was rumour of higher levels fixing for the transatlantic voyage/round trips but the details could not be verified yet,” the analysts said.
There was also some fixture activity in the Pacific Basin that boosted the C5 route from West Australia to Qingdao freight rate by $0.18 per tonne to $12.418 per tonne.
Australian iron-ore giant Rio Tinto fixed an unnamed capesize on Tuesday to move 190,000 tonnes of iron ore from Dampier, Australia, to Qingdao at $12.40 per tonne after loading the ship from 28 to 30 June.
The miner hired a to-be-named capesize on Tuesday to ship 190,000 tonnes of the commodity on the same route at $12.20 per tonne after loading that vessel from 27 to 29 June.
The Panamax 5TC route basket saw its first gain in three weeks, rising $254 per day to reach $23,657 per day on Tuesday.
This slight improvement came after the 5TC slid steadily by 23% from $30,392 per day on 23 May.
“A day of positive sentiment with talk abound of a floor being found in both basins,” the analysts said.
“Sources spoke of a good level of fresh fronthaul enquiry from the Atlantic in turn improving the bids, and along with this came talk that the trans-Atlantic rates being talked up, this has yet to transpire into physical fixtures, but sentiment remains firm for now.”
Several panamaxes had been hired across both basins on Tuesday but “details remained scarce for now”, they said.
