Cement News tagged under: Freight Markets
Time for quiet reflection15 May 2006, Published under Cement NewsWhile a clear direction seems still to be hard to find on the freight market, things have at least stabilised last week with very quiet activity. On the news front nothing has arisen concerning the iron ore prices negotiations except some new figures released by the CISA estimating that the need for supplementary imports this year will reach 25.9Mt, which is in the lower range of what the market expected. The CISA also revealed that the overall Chinese crude steel production will reach 384Mt... |
Handy trades influenced by in-bound US cement traffic26 April 2006, Published under Cement News“Different companies, different minds, different moods” seems to be the weeks’ characteristic. Within all sectors of the bulk market, companies seem to be looking in different directions, triggering different sentiments. Steel producers are looking very carefully into 2006 prospects, notably from a Japanese point of view. First quarter Japanese profits have in general been disappointing and the outlook for 2006 is not being considered rosy. Their Chinese counterparts are more optimistic, con... |
All quiet on the western front10 April 2006, Published under Cement NewsWorld crude steel production topped 1.1bn tonnes for the full year 2005 and according to the first 2006 results this figure, despite a limited slow down, could reach 1.2bn tonnes by the end of the year. There is still a tremendous need for coal and iron ore to feed the steel and power industries and for them to secure their supplies which will continue to have a significant effect on world dry bulk shipping trends. Last week saw minor gains on all Capesize routes and generally the atmosphere... |
Markets tending to firm up once again30 March 2006, Published under Cement NewsTension mounted last week between iron ore suppliers, particularly Australia, and their main client, China, which does not help to clear the view about which direction the market could take for the rest of the year. However, despite these uncertainties, dry bulk freight rates are still on average well over the maximum levels reached in the pre-2003 period. Let’s say hopefully because in the meantime ships’ costs and values have also strongly progressed. In this respect, this week the secon... |
Handies and Panamax sectors start to climb23 February 2006, Published under Cement NewsSteel, then iron ore and now coal… this week has been widely animated by the coal sector with the disclosure of the long term Chinese government program to shut-down 70 per cent of small-sized mines by 2010 and 100 per cent by 2015. Official figures reported state that there are about 24,000 small coal production sites in China that have an individual output ranging from 10,000 to 30,000t per year. But on the shorter term and perhaps more significant for this year are the coal... |
Some signs of rate improvements16 February 2006, Published under Cement NewsIn a week where the dry bulk market has proven that freight rates can react quite quickly to a come back of charterers, all the minds seem to be occupied by one word: “consolidation”. From the steel industry, to power generation and now shipping it looks like all the money earned during the last two to three years must now be invested in external growth. In fact, in all these sectors, the production capacity no longer seems to be the problem as they are running full steam, but companies now ... |
Rates still being held down03 February 2006, Published under Cement NewsIs it the start of a new merger wave? Many things tend to prove that our dry bulk markets have already entered into an M&A cycle. This state of facts is even reinforced by the downward trend recorded on the freight markets since the early days of this year. On the steel mills front the battle has already been engaged with the now famous and long lasting ThyssenKrup vs Arcelor for Dofasco story. In China the giant Baosteel has signed a wide cooperation agreement with another domestic produce... |
Some falls but outlook remains fair18 January 2006, Published under Cement NewsDespite a start to the year that was not as "red hot" as last year on dry bulk shipping markets, optimism still seems to be prevailing among raw material producers. Last week some good prospects have arisen on the coal exports front and this week has seen a rather strong comeback of positive outlook on the iron ore market. Then a series of new massive and long term investment projects both in steel production (Hyundai INI Steel with a 7m tons new plant) and iron ore mining (Rio Tinto develop... |
Looking ahead in 200610 January 2006, Published under Cement NewsWill 2006 be the year for coal? Since 2003 the dry bulk market has been mainly driven by the Chinese iron ore boom which is not finished but will certainly know a more moderate growth. Higher oil prices have renewed the interest in coal as a source of power generation in many countries that cannot rely on nuclear electricity. Exporting countries such as Indonesia, South Africa and Australia have made huge investments to upgrade their coal export output with the negative effect of loading the... |
As the holiday season approaches...21 December 2005, Published under Cement NewsThe dry bulk market seems to be steadying in this end-of-year period. In these rather still waters and approaching the end of the year it’s a good time to make a point on the fleet evolution. The delivery side offers a colourful picture with, so far this year, no less than 234 bulkers over 40,000 dwt delivered for a total of 20.6 million dwt, including 57 Capes, 82 Panamaxes and 94 Handymaxes. Another 58 ships are still scheduled to be delivered before the end of this year but we already kno... |