Freight rates for the Asia Pacific and Atlantic Capesize routes continued to surge on Thursday as industry sources witnessed a flurry of trades later in the day.
How did it catch up?
A ship operator source tracking the Capesize market expected the market to continue trending upwards and said “the market’s sentiment is really looking bullish, and there are more cargoes in the market than what a lot of people expected.”
Also, a Hong Kong-based shipbroker says that the market was bullish as there was keen interest from operators for vessels on a one-year time charter period.
The freight rate for a Capesize vessel to move iron ore from Tubarao to Qingdao was assessed at $17.50/wmt, up $1.50/wmt from Wednesday. While Capesize vessel freight rate to move iron ore from Saldanha Bay to Qingdao was assessed at $13.25/wmt, up $1.25/wmt day on day.
Also, the freight rate for a Capesize vessel to move iron ore from Port Hedland to Qingdao was assessed at $7/wmt, up 65 cents/wmt from Wednesday.
Bullish trends
To summarize the ongoing bullish market freight rate, the table shows a comparison of the rate at different ship routes and their possible dates for effectiveness.
| Company | Route | Destination | Freight rate | Effective date |
| Rio Tinto | Western Australia-Qingdao | Dampier to Qingdao | $6.90/wmt | January 13 onwards |
| BHP | Port Hedland to Qingdao | $7/wmt | January 18 onwards | |
| Roy Hill | West coast Australia to Qingdao | $6.90/wmt | January 15 onwards | |
| OneSteel | Whyalla to Qingdao | January 25-31 (laycan) | ||
| Cliffs Resources | Esperance to China | $8.45/wmt | January 19 onwards | |
| JERA | Bolivar to Rotterdam | January 18-27 (laycan) | ||
| Cargill | Trans-Atlantic round voyage | DOP Ijmuiden | $25,000/day | January 6 |
| Oldendorff | Tubarao to Qingdao | $16.85 – $17/wmt (bidding) | February 1-10 (laycan) | |
| LDC | Tubarao to Qingdao | $17/wmt | February 1-10 (laycan) | |
| Oldendorff | Richards Bay to Krishnapatnam | 150,000 mt (plus/minus 10%) | January 21-30 (laycan) |
A chartering source with a mining company however, was skeptical about the rally and said “it’s looking a little bubbly, the fundamentals are looking weak — there are still a lot of vessels in the market.”
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Source: Platts
