Smaller bulkers are enjoying sustained upward trends as supply remains tight in both the Atlantic and Pacific basins, according to market analysts.
The Baltic Exchange’s Supramax 10TC basket of spot-rate averages across 10 key routes has risen by 32.6% since 7 August to reach just over $10,000 per day on Tuesday.
Meanwhile the Handysize 7TC has improved 24.4% over the same period to reach $8,715 per day on Tuesday.
Analysts gave the same reason for their persistent rise over the past two weeks: limited tonnage.
“From the Atlantic, fresh enquiry remained at sustained levels with fresh tonnage availability remaining fairly tight in both the North and South Atlantic,” Baltic Exchange analysts said about supramaxes on Tuesday.
“By contrast, a slightly more pessimistic day from Asia, brokers saying that levels of fresh enquiry had lowered somewhat and a healthy supply of prompt tonnage was seen.”
A supramax was heard to have been fixed on Tuesday at $16,000 per day for a voyage from Fazendinha, Brazil, to Algeria, but no more details came to light, the analysts said.
That spot rate is higher than spot rates for transatlantic fixtures heard two weeks ago.
On 7 August, Shamrock Marityme’s 58,700-dwt St George (built 2012) was rumoured to have fixed for a trip from Lome, Togo, to India via West Africa at $15,000 per day, according to the analysts.
Also, Pan Ocean was linked to fixing Mercantile Shipping’s 56,000-dwt Pride of Yasna (built 2006) from Abidjan, Ivory Coast, to the eastern coast of India via Saldanha Bay, South Africa, at $11,250 per day.
In the Pacific basin, Meadway Shipping’s 56,700-dwt Wave Runner (built 2008) was rumoured to have been hired on Tuesday to carry petcoke from Mundra, India, through the Middle East Gulf for redelivery to India’s western coast at as high as $14,000 per day, but the charter failed on subjects, according to the Baltic Exchange.
On 7 August, Star Bulk Carriers’ 63,100dwt Star Apus (built 2014) was heard to have been fixed for a trip from Phu My to China via Indonesia at a lower $8,000 per day, though some heard it was closer to $8,600 per day, Baltic Exchange analysts said.
Supply was particularly scarce for handysizes in the Atlantic basin, analysts said.
“Upward momentum was also sustained in the South Atlantic as more September enquiries entered the market and tonnage availability was said to have remained limited,” they said.
It was also tight in the Pacific basin, allowing owners to fix handysizes at spot rates that were much higher than average figures reported by the Baltic Exchange.
A 38,000-dwt handysize was rumoured to have been fixed on Tuesday to carry an an intended cargo of concentrates from Indonesia to China via Western Australia in the $13,000-per-day range, but further details were not yet available.
