Panamax bulkers may have a very good September as Brazil’s grain exports are expected to skyrocket from a year ago, shipbroker Braemar said.

The country’s corn exports are forecast to rise to 4.5m tonnes for September, double the levels seen in the same month of last year, according to a dry bulk research update.

Most of the corn is destined for markets in South America, Europe and the Middle East.

The Brazilian grain trade is primarily benefiting panamaxes, with shipments on trend to increase to 9.6m tonnes in September, Braemar said. That represents a 16.7% rise from a year earlier.

The report comes as the Baltic Exchange’s Panamax 5TC basket of spot rates across five key routes has moved mostly sideways for nearly two weeks, rising 1.6% since 16 September to $18,201 per day on Wednesday.

Braemar said supramaxes have also seen higher demand from Brazilian grains in the past few months, with liftings on track to total 2.8m tonnes in September, which marks a four-fold year-over-year rise.

Brazil harvested 116m tonnes of corn during the 2021-2022 marketing year, up 33.3% from a year earlier, according to US Department of Agriculture (USDA) data.

Brazilian grain exports are on trend to total 13.6m tonnes in August according to AXS tracking, up 20.9% year over year, taking year-to-date grain exports to 121m tonnes, up 13.2% from the same period in 2021.

“China has remained the largest single market for Brazilian grains, on track to import 2.8m tonnes in September,” Braemar said.