Cement News tagged under: Freight Markets
And still the markets climb higher!23 July 2007, Published under Cement NewsThe market is fixated on mergers and acquisitions in the mining sector this month with this spectacular $38.1bn bid by Rio on Alcan, surpassing the previous $28.8bn made by Alcoa. The market is also factoring in price negotiations in the iron ore sector with some contradictory statements about the predicted level of demand for next year, clouding the waters. Lower iron ore imports figures published by Chinese customs for the month of June have surprised most observers, but just one month is ... |
Rate rises astonish the market27 June 2007, Published under Cement NewsTo much surprise, the indexes published by the Baltic for the Cape market have gained more than 1,630 points, i.e. +25% over the last five trading days, and 50% of this rise was done during the last two days of the week. Equally, Panamax indices jumped by 12% over the same period Explanations for this sharp upturn are certainly to be found in the slow return to normal operations in Newcastle Australia after 15 days of disruption. Hunter Valley Coal Chain Logistics Team estimates that ³2.5Mt... |
Shipping markets on a roll18 May 2007, Published under Cement NewsAnother week of strong increases and with a rise of 341 points last week, the BPI reached a new record high of 6,283 points (the last record established was on the 1st of December 2004 with 6,110 pts). The Panamax market is still sustained by interest for period in both Atlantic and Pacific basins. Pacific round traded last week in the low/mid 50’s. LME’s for 5/7 months delivered in Pacific were trading around US$52,000/day. In the Atlantic, the market is similarly driven by period fixture.... |
Bulk markets are booming30 April 2007, Published under Cement NewsIt’s heating up! The growing interest for all parties to partake in the ever booming bulk market is reflected in all sorts of manners. With strong demand and persisting congestion in Australian coal ports, markets continue their upward trend: after the Panamaxes and Capes, it is now the turn for the Handies to jump on the bandwagon and march forward. In the meantime, ship values also reached new stratospheres, with new-building resale contracts soaring up to US$110m a piece for a 177,000 d... |
Breaking the records07 March 2007, Published under Cement NewsThis is only the third time in history that the 7000 point barrier has been broken for the BCI. Last times, the index broke this level just before the market reached a peak during the winter 2004 and 2005. The index never stayed more than a month over this level during the past two peaks. However, today the market has a completely different shape as, despite the rates have significantly increased during the past two weeks, they are still not completely diverging from the limited bandwidth t... |
Hungry for tonnage12 February 2007, Published under Cement NewsSince the start of the year, and given that the market has not felt any ignificant downward pressure, both owners and charterers have been hungry for tonnage. On the charterers front we have seen actors securing tonnage for very long periods of time, generally in relation to raw material supply contracts. On the owner’s front a similar movement has been noticeable: No less than a hundred building slots for dry bulk carriers have been booked in the yards over the past six weeks amassing to ne... |
Spot activity dominates lower size dry bulk tonn age17 January 2007, Published under Cement NewsIn the light of what happened last year and of the predictions coming from both the supply and the demand side, charterers seem to be in the market to secure tonnage for mid and long term commitments. Cape and Panamax rates have been supported by an intense time charter activity while the Handy/Supramax market is still spot-driven. In the news, this week the weatherman had a lot to report, first with the grounding of the 33,000 dwt – 1985 built Handy ‘Server’ which broke into two parts o... |
No clear direction over last week18 December 2006, Published under Cement NewsIn the same tango ballet that we have been looking at for a couple of months, freight rates have again danced on the same narrow stage, making steps back and forth from one week to the other. However the real freestyle dancing is definitely not on the freight rate front, but rather on the second-hand and new-building markets. After a big wave of tanker orders during the first three quar-ters of the year, it seems that its now time for bulk carrier operators to think forward. All the mode... |
Upturn in market but will it last?04 December 2006, Published under Cement NewsUpturn in market but will it last? The market has been desperately waiting for a clear signal since mid-summer this year, and finally this week the Cape market took the driving seat in an upward trend, not only with the BCI breaking the 6000 point barrier, but above all gaining 401 points during the last five trading days. Panamax and Handies followed the movement a bit later in the week. It is still a little early to say whether this firm trend is here to stay; but it shows at least th... |
Iron ore news dominates market trends30 October 2006, Published under Cement NewsIron ore developments have tended to dominate market discussions over the past fortnight especially with the merger process between Tata steel and Corus going one step forward this week, after Corus’ approval of Tata’s bid. CVRD in Brazil considers that iron ore supply and demand will only “come into balance in two or three years”, and Rio doesn’t see any short term curbing in demand. To avoid this bargaining power on the supply side China has decided to use India as a new source. Depending o... |