Increased miner activity but limited Pacific volumes; fixtures at lower levels as delays and tonnage build-up weigh on rates, reports Fearnpulse.
Capesize
On the West Australia front, we see much more activity from miners but fewer operators and tenders for mid December dates. Volumes out of East Australia and other Pacific fronts remain limited. Slightly more enquires ex South Africa this week to Far East and a back haul cargo was seen as well. On C3 ex Brazil to China, we see very limited enquiries for first half of December and slightly more for second half of December. In the Far East, we still see some prompt vessels while a notable number of ships experienced itinerary delays due to typhoon. Ballasting tonnage is stacking up for the second half of December with a handful still able to meet first half of December dates. On C5, fixtures concluded at sub USD 10 pmt levels by mid-week. On C3, we see lower level of fixing activity this week as owners and charterers adopt a more passive and wait and see approach. Fixtures although limited, concluded at low-mid USD 22 pmt levels on C3 equivalent for early December and circa USD 23 pmt levels for end December dates.
Panamax
The Panamax market experienced persistent weakness this week, with soft fundamentals and declining sentiment in both the Atlantic and Pacific basins. In the Atlantic, grain volumes remained significantly lower than the same period last year, and coal demand weakened as high inventories in China and India, coupled with mild temperatures and limited trade. While mineral cargoes provided some support on transatlantic routes, fronthaul fixtures struggled due to an oversupply of tonnage heading East, with rates falling below index levels. A lack of demand from key origins such as NoPac kept rates under pressure in the Pacific despite some activity from southern mineral cargoes and Japanese tenders. An oversupply of vessels gave charterers the upper hand, with bid-offer spreads narrowing further as rates declined another USD 250–300. Modest FFA gains and a clearing of spot tonnage provided slight optimism, but sustained recovery will require more substantial grain volumes and improved demand across regions.
Supramax
Rates continue to fall quicker than autumn leaves, and growing position lists in all areas shows no sign of respite for the owning community. Cargo volumes remain low across basins. The oversupply of tonnage continues to exert downward pressure on the rates. The usual Indonesia-China coal is being fixed at USD 9,000 levels. Indonesian coal volumes continue to keep up. MEG-EC India trips being concluded at USD 10k/d levels. MEG/WC India volumes have not picked up as yet. ECSA volumes remain low and whatever hit the market was covered away quietly with the available tonnage. Period activity is rather slow and not much being reported in the market.
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Source: Fearnpulse
