Despite the rather unanimous fall in rates recorded this week, which is in line with what had been anticipated, the last 24 hours of the week have given some signals of an upward trend. Everyone already feel that April or May requirements will soon need to be covered and will capture the tight volume of tonnage still available on the market. Asia has given the start to this movement but the Atlantic market may follow soon. So, figures are down but the market is still firm.
The Panamax market has experienced a turnaround, and all index routes started to show stronger numbers at the end of last week. Although the rise was not dramatic, the sentiment in the market is positive, and it seemed that there were more stems and fewer ships available in both basins. Period rates remained stable, and seem more appropriate than in last weeks weakening market. This underlines that the market still feels optimistic, although no clear and decisive upward movement has taken place so far.
The Handymax market marked a sort of pause last week even if several orders from South America and India created some activity. BHMI index stepped down about every day last week. However, owners kept on talking high rates. Very few orders apart from scrap cargoes to the Far East have been seen from the Continent, where a lot of vessels are positioned willing to go South. In the Pacific, the activity seemed to be more sustained last week but mainly thanks to vessels’ relets.
Source: Barry Rogliano Salles, Shipbrokers, Paris
