Cement News tagged under: Freight Markets

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Steady gains in larger sizes: mixed signals at lower end??

05 June 2011, Published under Cement News

In the news late-May, the OECD released a new report confirming strong expansion in world steel markets and forecasting 6% growth for both 2011 and 2012. World steel output growth slowed in the second half of 2010 but, on the back of Chinese demand, rose nearly 10% in the first quarter of 2011 QoQ. However Chinese growth is expected to fall to around 5% in 2011 and again in 2012 report analysts at shipbrokers Barry Rogliano. Overall the world economy had seen strong recovery in automotive ma...

Easter break brings little respite for owners

27 April 2011, Published under Cement News

The Easter break has had an impact on market rates with the Baltic Dry Index (BDI) down again to 1250 points by Tuesday 26 April. The Panamax segment once again suffered the bulk of the losses and over the course of the last week the Baltic Panamax Index eased by an equivalent US$1000 in all basins which represented a significant loss of around 10% on prevailing market levels. A lack of cargoes worldwide is seen as the main culprit with a large number of vessels looking for spot business re...

Dry bulk markets improve against backdrop of Middle East conflicts

05 March 2011, Published under Cement News

With markets understandably rather unpredictable as a result of the continuing Middle East troubles, shipowners will be cheered by the upward swing in rates for all dry bulk sectors over recent days. In fact, the Bulk Dry Index has moved up by about eight per cent over the last week as charterers have rushed to fix tonnage over the coming month. Stronger demand out of South America lifted the smaller sizes, while better transatlantic demand pushed Cape rates up. In the iron ore segment, a sh...

Let’s hope for a better 2011 but...??

25 January 2011, Published under Cement News

The past month has been characterised by falling rates in most sectors, the only bright spot being a slight resurgence in the Supramex sectors over the past week, but apart from that note of optimism markets have generally been affected by weather-related problems while longer-term worries centre around the continual drip-feeding of new bulk tonnage from the major yards. Taking a moment to review the past year, the Baltic Dry Index BDI has fallen by an alarming 57 per cent in 12 months wit...

No real direction in the markets

21 December 2010, Published under Cement News

With the holiday season almost among us, recent trends point to a lethargy in most markets with no real direction visible from the main indices. True, the Baltic Capesize sectors have seen a small improvement in December due to a surge in demand from the big Pacific miners, but by and large the overall Baltic Dry Index remains stuck at around the 2000-2200 range. In fact, the Panamax market has experienced a softer tendency in mid-December with rates sliding in the Pacific basin. As brokers...

Baltic index falls, capesize cargo activity slow

26 November 2010, Published under Cement News

The Baltic’s main index has been erratic this year, as it was in 2009, because of swings in Chinese demand for iron ore, the primary ingredient of steel. It reached a 2010 peak of over 4200 points in May. Brokers said players were waiting to see if China would raise interest rates, which could lead to a pullback in ore imports and shipping activity. China’s iron ore imports are likely to rise as much as 10 per cent to a record in 2011, a move that should keep prices near multiyear highs, a...

Markets remain fairly stable in late October

30 October 2010, Published under Cement News

Markets were noted to be holding fairly steady in late October with the the Baltic Dry Index closing on Friday the 29th of October 2010 at 2678 points, with some small gains in the Panamax sectors helping to keep the BDI on a positive track. There are some concerns that traditional coal deliveries from South Africa and Colombia might switch to China and India which may impact on rates, while Chinese ore imports will rise for the rest of the year due to low domestic stockpiles another upward ...

At last, some optimism returns to the sector

25 August 2010, Published under Cement News

Will the Baltic Dry Index reach 5000 by year-end? One or two of the more optimistic brokers seem to be suggesting that this barrier could be broken, given the recent upsurge in rates, although clearly there is a long way to go with underlying sentiment on global fundamentals still posing  a moderate degree of uncertainty. On a week to week basis, August activity levels pushed up the BDI appreciably although in the final week it fell back slightly to the 2700 level. The yearly average...

Some improvements in dry bulk freights but...

29 July 2010, Published under Cement News

Freight rates for dry bulk carriers have continued to edge higher during the last week of July, with the industry’s main benchmark, the Baltic Dry Index (BDI) gaining some 2.16 per cent over the previous week. This was the 10th straight session of increases, despite the fact that most analysts appear rather pessimistic on the short-term prospects of the market. This rebound has reportedly been triggered by a firmer iron ore demand and a restocking taking place in China, as a result of a bett...

IHS: outlook for dry bulk shipments improving

28 July 2010, Published under Cement News

World trade by all modes of transportation – sea, air and land – will grow 8.1 per cent in 2010 and 6.9 per cent in 2011, following a 7.2 per cent decline in 2009, according to the latest forecast from IHS Global Insight’s World Trade Service. 

International trade volumes will continue to increase on pace with the global economic recovery, according to the Second Quarter Trends in World Economy and Trade report from the IHS Global Insight World Trade Service.  

 The outlook for bulk shi...