Cement News tagged under: Freight Markets
Higher freights expected this winter27 September 2005, Published under Cement NewsBy the end of the week, while dry bulk markets have started marking a pause in the quite strong rise they’ve enjoyed over the last three weeks, players prepare themselves to further rise in freight rates as most indicators speak so far in favour of another hot winter. To reinforce this feeling China’s authorities have announced this week, just after the publication of enthusiastic growth figures for Asia as a whole by the IMF, that they see their economy growing 9.2 per cent in 2005 and exp... |
New deliveries will probably influence rate trends09 September 2005, Published under Cement NewsAfter eight months of already intense shipbuilding activity, the rest of the year could see almost the same pace of tonnage addition which means, more than one Cape size vessel delivered per week, nearly two Panamaxes added on the same weekly basis, three Handymaxes and an average of six Handies per month. So if Asian and especially the Japanese yards respect their contractual delivery schedule, the two intermediate sizes of dry bulk carriers would see a strong level of tonnage addition, whi... |
Some gains noted with markets firming17 August 2005, Published under Cement NewsAs expected, last week saw the Capesize market continuing to rise in both basins. In spite of uncertainty concerning the price evolution of raw materials, production targets are expected to be met. Simultaneously, increasing bunker costs made charterers more cautious and for many long haul routes bunkers which represented 10 per cent of total costs a year ago are now up to 27 per cent today. Nevertheless, the Cape market should maintain the same trend this week. In the midst of an increas... |
Some signs of an upturn visible10 August 2005, Published under Cement NewsDespite the fall in rates recorded over the last three/four months, owners have so far preferred to wait for a rebound. The upturn registered this week, at least on the Cape and Panamax markets, shows that it may have been the right decision to take, however it is a bit early to say whether this trend is firm or not. Meanwhile, on the tonnage supply side things are also accelerating as, according to our figures, not less than 177 dry bulk carriers of 15,000 dwt & over have been so far delive... |
Downward trend still prevalent03 August 2005, Published under Cement NewsAs it had been widely expected, the currency changes operated by China have not provoked any shock on the shipping markets and they strongly refuted this week to have plans to make some further monetary adjustments in the short term. Some half year results are starting to fall on the news wires with Arcelor this week announcing at the same time very strong results and a consolidation of all its steel activities in Brazil. They predict a quite tough third quarter as they will maintain their p... |
Freight market looks to China - again28 July 2005, Published under Cement NewsThe dry bulk markets were really waiting for good news for quite some time now and the disconnection between the Yuan and the dollar decided last week, despite its limited scope, is definitely a good one. Almost all influent players in the market reacted with applause to a decision which will lighten the energy and raw material bill of China and at the same time will not affect much the export competitiveness of their products as the country still has wide productivity margins to gain. This ... |
Freight market comeback later this year?20 July 2005, Published under Cement NewsWhile the Cape market is climbing alone at present, it increasingly seems that everyone is preparing again for a comeback of demand but don’t know yet what impact this will have on the figures. On the shipowning front, the announcement by CSG/CSDC that they are postponing the floatation of their dry bulk business, signals that they probably wait for better times. Mining conglomerate BHP revealed the approval of port expansion at its Hay Point coal terminal, which will lift capacity by 4Mta t... |
Freights: down but certainly not out13 July 2005, Published under Cement NewsWhile dry bulk freight markets are not clearly showing the way for a hard or a soft landing, particularly this week with strong divergences between the Capes and the smaller sizes, it still seems that the industry, at least mining companies, prepare themselves sooner or later for a comeback of demand. Much is based on the assumption that China will continue to pull the demand for raw material further in the decade, which received some support this... |
Have rates reached the bottom for 200529 June 2005, Published under Cement NewsIt is certainly a bit early to be too enthusiastic but the gains recorded this week on the Cape market show that we have perhaps touched the bottom for this year. With China still rejecting the pressure exerted by the EU and the US to float the Yuan and still desperately tries to restrict credit to an overheating economy; raw material, energy and steel markets are confirmed in their forecasts of a tighter second half of the year. ... |
Freight rates continue to fall23 June 2005, Published under Cement NewsWhile all dry bulk shipping markets are still nose-diving towards levels now deeper than last year’s lowest figures, many raw material producers are busy announcing production increases. Australian iron ore outputs "are expected to increase 34Mt to 274Mt in 2006, following a rise of 29Mt this year to 240Mt" and the bureau raised its overall estimate for minerals and energy sales by 2.7 per cent for the year ending June 2006. BHP Billiton has made the decision to spend over A$10bn (US$8bn) o... |