The firmer trend that started to push up Capesize rates last week continued throughout most of the week however ended on a weaker note. The Panamax market remained similar to last week with still a lot of prompt vessels to fix in the Atlantic and only a few mineral stems to cover. Handies were slow with some pockets of activity in the Med/Atlantic area but not enough to balance the lack of business in the Pacific and the now badly missing grain stems out of the US Gulf and WCSA ports.

[The original chart is unavailable in this archive.]

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Panamax market continued its downward trend with little grain activity, even though some rumours appeared about a potential solution for the Chinese ban on soybeans imports. Rates have fallen on all routes with the average of the four Timecharter routes at around US$22,500 against around US$24,000 the previous week.

The HandyMax market continued falling with so far no light  
at the end of the tunnel. The Far East took the largest token but the Continent/Med, which up until recently resisted well, finally gave up. Ships open there are plentiful. Sending a ship on ballast is becoming today a true challenge. One should not forget though that the levels remain historically high. Tess 45 still achieve mid/high teens for short period depending delivery. But the players are cautious though and no long-term deals are being done so far.

Week ending: 13/06/2004                           
Source: Barry Rogliano Salles Shipbrokers