Cement News tagged: Freight Markets
Slow Mediterranean market offers forward opportunities
It has been a very slow couple of weeks with few orders circulated in the market and often a long list of interested vessels for each new order. Clinker shipments from the Mediterranean to west Africa have been carried out at very sharp levels with owners taking the lower-paying cargoes and leave the extremely-saturated Mediterranean market, according to shipping broker Clarksons . ...
Mediterranean reluctance, Indian Ocean steady
Owners of dry bulk vessels operating in the Mediterranean are reluctant to take short inter-Med cement or clinker voyages, due to poor rates and lack of cargoes, especially in the eastern Mediterranean, according to Clarksons, the international shipbroker. Instead, owners are opting for cargoes with backhaul to the Atlantic as a first preference. Owners are rating spot cargoes from the Med...
Dry bulk freight market lifts on capesize advance
The dry bulk freight market appears to be picking up as capesize vessels are reported to leading the uplift. The Baltic Dry Index has started to show some improvement although it slipped slightly from 1156 to 1146 in the week ended 28 August 2013. However, progress in other market segments has been more muted. Strong iron imports into the China are bolstering the capesize market as the comm...
Quiet handysize and panamax markets, capesize promising
Traditionally a more quiet time of the year, the freight market does not delivery any big surprises. Handysize and panamax markets see available shipping capacity outnumber actual cargoes. In the capesize market, charters are improving. The Baltic Dry Index (BDI) slipped in July but still enjoys a much better level than last year. In terms of handysize shipments, the Pacific market is still...
Freight prices to receive triple boost
As an oversupply in shipping capacity continues to plague the dry bulk freight market market with the Baltic Dry Index bumping along the bottom, there may be some signs of improvement. Higher forecast demand for commodities combine with reduced deliveries of new vessels and higher scrappage rates to support freight prices although a sustained recovery cannot be expected in the short term, acco...
Low Paraguay river makes INC clinker transport difficult
The low levels of the Paraguay river are making transport of clinker more difficult. The current water level is adding 20% to the clinker transport bill of Industria Nacional del Cimento (INC), according to its president, Carlos Krüssel Llano. INC produces clinker at Vallemí and then ships it to its Villeta grinding unit. However, the company’s president assured that Villeta currently has a...
Sharjah Cement Factory signs MoU with Etihad Rail
UAE’s Sharjah Cement Factory has signed a memorandum of understanding with Etihad Rail which will enable the cement producer to transport more than 5Mta of cement and raw materials, more than half the company’s current logistic requirements. The agreement will offer Sharjah a freight solution that will reduce transport costs and improve efficiency by allowing the use of a mode of transport ...
India’s cement transport by rail falls 11.8 per cent
A rise in freight charges has seen a drop in cement volumes carried by Indian Railways. In August, cement volumes carried by rail fell 11.8 per cent YoY to 7.52Mt as rail fares saw an increase of as much as 24 per cent. The Cement Manufacturers Association (CMA) said the decline was prompted partly by the rise in freight rates, although the general decline in the cement market also contrib...
Atlantic basin rates fall but Capesize provides positive note
After hitting a new record low for the year at 661 on 12 September, the Baltic Dry Index edge up again to 772 one week later. Dahlman Rose attributes the increase to “modestly higher” Capesize rates. "Considering the downwards pressure currently in Chinese steel prices, we do not expect a significant boost to rates in the near term," Dahlman Rose strategists Omar M Nokta and Damien Fortune sa...
End of holidays provides varied freight pricing
The end of the holiday season in various parts of the world provided the freight market with a varied mix of price trends. In the Handysize market prices appeared to be stabilising somewhat in both basins but with Pacific rates recovering slightly faster. RV Atlantic contracts rose from US$7700/day on 22 August to US$7900/day a week later but then lost modest ground to US$7825/day, a...
Dry bulk rates continue summer slip
The past fortnight has seen handysize and panamax rates decline considerably and the BDI is edging down towards a new low.
Shipping rates soften across the board
With summer activity on the low side, shipping rates generally softened for Handysize, Panamax and Capes, both in the Atlantic and Pacific basins. With a more or less inactive Atlantic market, prices for charters were significantly more affected in the western hemisphere, noting rate decrease of up to a third. The Pacific held up better with declines ranging in the 6-16 per cent bracket. ...
Handy and capesize markets soften while panamax continues climb
The Baltic Dry Index reflected the trends in the handy and capesize markets as it rose from 1103 to 1146 on 11 July, but then slipped to 1074 one week later. After a stable week ended 11 July, the handysize market experienced a softening the following week, particularly in the Atlantic Basin where day rates fell from US$16,600 to US$15,447 for the RV Atlantic contract on 18 July. The Pacif...
Freight rates firm up after initial dip
Selected freight market trends 20.06-04.07.2012 The Pacific Handysize market has seen increased activity over the past fortnight with Pacific RV prices firming from US$4900/day on 13 June to US$8850/day on 4 July. TCT Cont/Far East rates rose from US$19,600/day to US$24,150/day. Atlantic RV rates stabilised at a slightly higher level of US$16,750/day. In the Panamax segment, pr...
Panamax picks up
Handysize rates cooled in both the Atlantic and Pacific basins. RV Atlantic rates fell from US$15,320/day on 30 May to US$15,000 a fortnight later. The slip in the Pacific market was even more marked as RV Pacific rates fell from US$6230 to US$4900/day over the period. However, the TCT Cont/Far East contract provided some good news as it edged upward from US$19,200 to US$19,600. After its r...
Holidays make for cool start to the past week
Rates in the Atlantic generally fell in the larger vessel sizes but Handysize charters firmed during the past fortnight. In the Pacific, a similar trend was noted although the Handysize segment delivered a mixed performance. Holidays, reduced activity in China and new vessels leaving shipyards all combined to subdue freight rates.