Pan Ocean and Cofco were among bulker charterers locking in tonnage on period deals on Friday as dry bulk ended a week that saw the spot market roar back to life after the Lunar New Year.
Positive sentiment ushered in plenty of deals over the week, including six period charters and 11 spot fixtures signed on Friday.
Four of the period charters were for a year or more.
The dealmaking saw South Korean ship operator Pan Ocean swoop on the 81,800-dwt Taho America (built 2019) for 23 to 25 months.
Taiwan’s Ta Ho Maritime, which owns the ship, will rake in $25,000 per day for the charter.
That’s the same rate that Chinese agricultural giant Cofco is paying to lock in another kamsarmax bulker for a year. The 82,640-dwt Bettys Dream (built 2008) is owned by Turkey’s Zihni Group.
The rates are slightly higher than Clarksons’ latest assessment of $24,375 per day for a one-year charter of a kamsarmax bulker and represent a premium over average panamax bulker earnings in the spot market.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong bulker operator Sino East Transportation, meanwhile, will pay $22,000 per day to spend 12 to 14 months with the 76,596-dwt Sea Gemini (built 2006), which is controlled by Zhangjiagang Oceanic of China.
A handy charter
Finally, Danish handysize operator Integrity Bulk has signed an index-linked deal to take the 37,059-dwt open hatch carrier Corewise OL (built 2013) for 12 months.
Taiwan’s Shih Wei Navigation will earn $27,000 per day for the first 45 days followed by 105% of the Baltic Handysize Index for the rest of the charter.
In the spot market, dry bulk rates posted a large seven-day gain on Friday as workers in Asia and elsewhere began returning to work after celebrating the Lunar New Year.
China’s most popular holiday takes place over 15 days, but most businesses close down for only the first week of festivities.
The capesize 5TC, which is a spot-rate average for capesizes across five key routes, leapt 50% during the week to reach $15,397 per day on Friday, according to the Baltic Exchange.
Smaller ships also saw much higher averages over the same time period. The panamax 5TC rose 34% to $21,623 per day, while the supramax 5TC improved 35% over the week to hit $23,743 per day on Friday.
“There was positive sentiment throughout the dry freight sector this past week, including capesizes, as traders returned from Lunar New Year holidays,” exchange analysts wrote on Friday.
The exchange reported rumour of Rio Tinto taking at least four capesizes for their standard 170,000-tonne shipment of iron ore from Dampier, Australia to Qingdao, China at rates of $8.45 and $8.55, starting on 26 and 27 February.
The Australian mining giant reportedly fixed a capesize a week earlier to move the same amount of ore on the same route at $7.10 per tonne. Loading is set to happen from 21 to 23 February.
It also hired two ships on 3 February for the same task at $7.60 per tonne each. They are expected to take on ore from 16 to 19 February.
