Australia continues to find alternative markets for its agricultural exports in the face of massive Chinese tariffs in a move that boosts tonne miles. Australian grain industry co-operative, the CBH Group, recently reported a record shipment of barley for Saudi Arabia from its Albany Grain Terminal. Some 60,075 tonnes were loaded aboard Great Eastern’s 82,000-dwt bulker Jag Amar (built 2017) in what was the port’s third largest shipment across all commodities.

CBH Group said it eclipsed the previous barley shipment record of 59,380 tonnes loaded on the 81,799-dwt Shandong Fu De (built 2018) in May 2018. “We continue to build new and expand existing markets in South America, Middle East and Thailand,” CBH Group said in a posting on LinkedIn.

Australian barley has found significant new markets in Japan, Saudi Arabia and Thailand, according to a recent report by Simpson Spence Young (SSY). Saudi Arabia imported 800,000 tonnes of Australian barley in December-January combined compared with none in the same period the year before. “In its most recent report, the US department of Agriculture (USDA) upgraded its forecast for Saudi Arabian barley imports in the 2020/21 market year by 800,000 tonnes to a four-year high of 8m tonnes citing stronger feed demand and a recent large tender, which is likely to include Australian produce,” said the shipbroker.

In sharp contrast the barley trade to China has been reduced to negligible volumes after the Chinese government imposed punitive import tariffs on Australian barley last year. “The redirection of Australian barley exports from China to longer-haul destinations such as Saudi Arabia was accompanied by increased Canadian and Ukrainian barley exports to the former, providing a significant tonne mile increase on previous Australia-China trade,” said SSY.

In January this year Mexico bought its first ever shipment of barley from Australia with 35,000 tonnes shipped aboard the 39,511-dwt bulker Nord Annapolis (built 2018). “While it is early days, this shipment to Mexico signals a potential new market for malting barley, however this will need to be developed over time,” CBH Group said at the time.

The fall-out from the closure of the Suez Canal has been gradually spreading into the dry bulk market, potentially boosting Panamax and Supramax freight rates amid tightening vessel availability. A rerouting around the Cape of Good Hope will add 10 to 15 days to a voyage and generate additional fuel costs, although saving on the considerable canal fees. As the tonnage supply has already been tightening any incremental inefficiency is likely helpful for the segments.

Total congestion outside both canal entrances has soared, with Lloyd’s List Intelligence showing around 46 bulk carriers awaiting transit through the busy waterway in the wake of the Ever Given grounding. Of the bulkers stuck in the queue to transit through the canal, four are capesizes, five are panamaxes, 20 are supramaxes and 17 handysizes, according to Lloyd’s List Intelligence vessel-tracking data. Braemar ACM pointed out in its latest report that there are at least four vessels turning around and heading back into the Indian Ocean to avoid the congestion.

Although the dry bulk market is not heavily reliant on the Suez Canal, there are certain trades that utilise it. For the Capes, the disruptions will be relatively limited, according to Braemar ACM dry bulk analyst Nick Ristic. But he sees a more significant impact on the cards for the Panamaxes and Supras, with these markets already tight.

The canal is usually critical for Canadian and Black Sea iron ore shippers, which primarily employ Capes. Backhaul shipments, such as coal volumes from Australia to Turkey, use this route heavily too. It provides a significant saving in sailing duration. As the North Atlantic accounts for small cargo volumes compared with Brazil and Australia, and the Tubarao to Rotterdam market is currently tight, he believes any disruption to the trade would be minimal. However, there could be more meaningful deviations on the Black Sea–Far East and backhaul routes, he added.

“If capes are employed on the Ukraine–China trip via the Cape of Good Hope, and assuming normal export volumes remain unchanged, it could have the effect of tying up approximately 2m dwt of capesize capacity per month, given the doubling in sailing duration.” Similarly, backhaul coal trips from eastern Australia can also lengthen if they divert towards the Cape of Good Hope, said Mr Nistic.

Within the Panamax segment, Black Sea grain cargoes grain and coal and grains from the US’ eastern coasts are frequent users of the canal. Here too, the canal is a key source of ballasters and has facilitated about 4.7% of the entire Panamax trade so far this year, Braemar estimates.

For the geared ships meanwhile, Suez transits have accounted for 3.9% of this sector’s total dry bulk trade so far in 2021. In these markets, the canal is a linchpin for fertiliser trades, which run both east to west and west to east, due to the wide range of goods that make up this cargo group. “With Chinese demand for grains still extremely high, prolonged Suez closures could translate to more of these ships taking the long route to the Far East, providing a boost to employment at a time of scarce vessel supply,” he said.

Likewise, steel exports this quarter are on track to reach their highest level in five years. Import demand for these products in some regions is extremely high due to the mismatch between rapidly recovering steel demand and lagging production capacity. Countries such as China and South Korea, which did not see heavy capacity closures during the pandemic, have capitalised on this and have enjoyed a surge in steel sales over the past few months. “A combination of these bumper trade flows and increased diversions due to prolonged Suez Canal issues could also lengthen voyages and tighten the market for geared ships further.”

Ships are on the move on the Suez Canal again, six days after a grounded Evergreen Line boxship halted traffic on the waterway. The 20,388-teu Ever Given (built 2018), which is owned by Shoei Kisen, was refloated shortly after 3pm local time (13:00 GMT) on Monday and then sailed to the Great Bitter Lake, where the ship will be inspected. With the ship dislodged, the 400 vessels left waiting were once again able to transit the canal, Suez Canal Authority head Osama rabie told reporters, with 113 expected to pass through by Tuesday morning.

Evergreen Line, the charterer of the Ever Given, said it was “most grateful” to the authority after the ship was moving. “We would also like to express our deepest appreciation to the crew who remain steadfast in their posts, as well as the salvage experts and dredging team for their professionalism and relentless efforts over the past six days towards securing this outcome.” Boskalis chief executive Peter Berdowski said refloating the ship makes passage through the canal possible again. Boskalis subsidiary SMIT Salvage had been brought in to aid in refloating efforts. “The time pressure to complete this operation was evident and unprecedented, and the result is a true display of our unique capabilities as a dredging and marine-services provider.”

The refloating of the vessel came after the Suez Canal Authority said earlier on Monday that Suez Canal traffic could resume as soon as the Ever Given was successfully refloated. At the time, the authority had reported that tugs were able to reposition the ship on the canal linking the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. “This was the result of successful push and tow manoeuvres, which led to the restoration of 80% of the vessel’s direction; with the stern 102 [metres] away from the bank of the canal now instead of 4 [metres] prior to the refloating,” the authority said in a statement.

The Ever Given ran aground close to the southern end of the canal on 23 March, reportedly the result of weather conditions at the time. It was positioned nearly perpendicular to the canal, creating a traffic jam of hundreds of ships, holding back billions of dollars in goods, raising rates across the industry and pushing some vessels to reroute around the Cape of Good Hope — a move that adds a week or more to their voyages. The refloating comes after multiple reports of progress that were ultimately false starts, with reports circulating in the hours after the grounding that the ship had partially been refloated.

According to Boskalis, roughly 30,000 cubic metres of sand was dredged to free the vessel, with the help of 11 harbour tugs and two more powerful seagoing tugs. Evergreen Line, a unit of Evergreen Marine, said the Ever Given will be inspected in Great Bitter Lake. If the ship is considered seaworthy, it will be allowed to resume scheduled service. It said arrangements will be made for the cargo on board following the inspection. After arriving on scene on the evening of 25 March, the company aimed to refloat the ship over the weekend as the tide rose. After refloating operations on Monday, videos posted to social media show crews blasting their horns in celebration.

Ahead of the ship being freed, Danish containership giant AP Moller-Maersk said in an advisory to customers that it could be as many as six days before the massive back-up of ships waiting to transit the canal is cleared up. Maersk said it had three vessels stuck in the canal, 30 waiting to enter and 15 had been redirected around the Cape of Good Hope. Evercore analyst Jonathan Chappell said the fallout from the blockage would continue to impact container shipping in the near-term as boxships dominate Suez Canal traffic and several have been ordered to take the long way around Africa. “An absolute onslaught of containers will likely hit the major European ports all at once in the coming weeks, adding to widespread logistical bottlenecks throughout the continent,” Chappell wrote in a note published on Monday. “Waiting time at the canal, around the Cape [of Good Hope], and at anchorage outside ports, as well as waiting for equipment to turn once at the discharge ports, is likely to exacerbate already massive inefficiencies in the containership fleet, just as new stimulus checks hit bank accounts and vaccine optimism leads to more economic openings.” Chappell does not have any containership companies in his coverage, but does cover road and rail transportation. For tankers and dry bulk shipping, he said the blockage would be supportive of rates but to a much smaller extent.

Congestion at major Brazilian ports is fuelling strength in the dry bulk market, with more than 100 bulkers waiting to load either iron ore or grains. There are about 56 mainly ore carriers at or near Ponta da Madeira, while 54 bulkers, mostly Panamaxes, are waiting to load soyabeans and grains at Santos port, the country’s largest, according to Lloyd’s List Intelligence data. Several vessels have been waiting for more than a month.

The vessel Tong Ying (IMO: 9717163) has been in Santos anchorage since February 22, while the Christina B. (IMO: 9304162) arrived on February 25, Lloyd’s List Intelligence data shows. The vessel Xin Feng (IMO: 9537628) has been waiting since February 27, while the vessel SSI Excellent (IMO: 9693757) has been in the queue since March 1. The vessel Mynika (IMO: 9525613) arrived in Ponta da Madeira’s inner anchorage on February 25, while Cape Race (IMO: 9601728) entered the area on March 1, the data shows.  

While some vessels wait in a queue, others have reached port and are loading. The 76,155 dwt SITC Huangshan (IMO: 9642497), which arrived in Santos anchorage on February 27, called at the port on March 25 to pick up its cargo of linseed and grains. Likewise, the 80,650 dwt Aeolian Heritage (IMO: 9483542) berthed this week for its soyabean and grains cargo, according to the Santos Port Authority. Meanwhile, the vessel Zheng Run (IMO: 9593816) arrived at Santos on March 26 after reaching anchorage on February 24. The delays in loading have added to the bullish sentiment in the dry bulk market.

According to Maritime Strategies International, an uptick in congestion “can quickly absorb tonnage and remains a major underlying reason behind rapid earnings growth this year”. The London-based consultancy said that congestion in Brazil was currently at “very high levels” with waiting times averaging 25 days at some of the worst-affected ports. A delayed soyabean crop was overlapping with a rise in sugar exports, it said, adding that it expects the congestion would likely remain elevated in the coming weeks.

Brokerage Braemar ACM echoed the notion that Brazil currently had some of the most congested anchorages. “With grains volumes starting to ramp up, we have seen a surge in vessel arrivals to meet this supply,” it said in a note. So far this month, about 10.3m tonnes have been loaded, the highest volume in the last four months.

Arrow research saw congestion reaching the highest level in 10 months, with the surge most notable this year, as a slowdown in iron ore exports had caused the vessel build-up around Ponta da Madeira. “A flood of vessels arrived at Brazil a bit early, but now congestion is likely around a peak as the fast export pace clears though the line-up,” it said. Indeed, a number of vessels were at Ponta da Madeira port, while several more were due at Itaqui port in the coming fortnight, Lloyd’s List Intelligence data showed. 

With additional reporting by Inderpreet Walia in Singapore.

Dry bulk demolitions have increased for the third consecutive quarter, with 43 vessels scrapped so far in Q1, the highest quarterly total since Q3 2017. 

Despite a month of extremely good timecharter rates, 40% of the ships scrapped so far in Q1 were demolished in March.

Scrap prices have rallied on the back of strong steel prices, which have in turn been supported by steel capacity cuts in some regions, incentivising some owners to scrap their aged vessels.

Capes have seen 16 demolitions so far in Q1 2021, matching their highest quarterly total over the last 5 years, with 11 of the 16 vessels being VLOCs.

The average age of scrapped Supramax ships has declined by 5 years to 26 since the start of 2018, with this vessel-type accounting for 28% of all bulker demolitions over this period. Meanwhile, the average age of Panamaxes heading for scrap has increased by 5 years since 2017, rising to 28 years of age.

It would appear that the Ever Given has been, more or less, freed from her ‘stuck’ position in the Suez Canal.  Final efforts would be made at 09.30GMT today when it is expected that the ship would be completely free from her ‘lodged’ position in the side of the Suez Canal. 

Next steps would include, assuming that she is safely afloat, to examine the damage, if any, to the ship and if she was sea worthy enough to transit the Canal and continue on her journey.  If that is the case, and that is an optimistic take on what has happened to the ship thus far, the 500 odd ships waiting to clear the Canal would restart they journeys latest by tomorrow.

https://www.tradewindsnews.com/casualties/no-exodus-of-waiting-vessels-expected-after-suez-canal-incident/2-1-987701?utm_source=email_campaign&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2021-03-26T01%3A01%3A03.055Z&utm_term=tradewinds&utm_content=daily

Few experts are expecting ships waiting at the Suez Canal to be diverted in droves unless the closure is confirmed to last for an extended period. That’s even though more than 150 vessels are waiting after the 20,388-teu Ever Given (built 2018) grounded in the key waterway on Tuesday, leading to a complete shutdown of traffic. The top executive of Boskalis, whose Smit Salvage is responding to the incident, said it could take weeks to refloat the vessel.

TradeWinds – 26 March 2021

https://www.reuters.com/article/egypt-suezcanal-ship-int/suez-canal-suspends-traffic-as-ship-stuck-like-beached-whale-idUSKBN2BH0BP

The world’s number one line A.P. Moller Maersk said it was considering diverting vessels around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, adding five to six days to the journey between Asia and Europe. It said time-sensitive cargo could be sent on trains and airplanes, although no decisions had yet been made.

Reuters – 25 March 2021

https://lloydslist.maritimeintelligence.informa.com/LL1136255/Boxships-begin-to-divert-from-Suez-Canal

Data from Lloyd’s List Intelligence AIS tracking indicates that the first containership to do this [divert around the Cape of Good Hope] is Evergreen’s Ever Greet (IMO9832729), a sistership to Ever Given (IMO: 9811000) the vessel that ran aground in the canal on Tuesday.

Lloyd’s List – 25 March 2021

https://lloydslist.maritimeintelligence.informa.com/LL1136250/Questions-raised-over-cause-of-Ever-Given-grounding

Initial reports have included engine failure and strong winds as the causes behind Ever Given (IMO: 9811000) becoming wedged across the canal but neither of these is entirely convincing. BSM, the ship’s manager, has denied there was any loss of power. The vessel, which was built in 2018 at Japan’s Imabari Shipbuilding, did have a previous incident in February 2019, when it experienced an engine blackout on the Elbe off Blankenese. The vessel lost manoeuvrability and veered off course, and despite tug assistance, came in contact with a vessel berthed at the ferry pier.

Lloyd’s List – 25 March 2021

Yesterday, the Ever Given, a large container ship, ran aground in the Suez Canal, lodging itself on the banks of the waterway and blocking traffic. Efforts were made to refloat the vessel, but, contrary to erroneous reports yesterday, they were unsuccessful, and the ship remains stuck at the time of writing. It’s extremely uncertain how long the blockage will last, but we aim to give an idea of which trades are affected and potential market impacts if the canal stays shut for a prolonged time. Within the dry bulk space, FFAs at first seemed to take a wait and see approach, with Tuesday’s severe sell-off pausing until more information about this incident came out. Since then, futures have rallied, indicating expectations that this disruption could benefit dry bulk freight. Since yesterday’s lows, both front-month Panamax and Capesize futures have gained as much as $3,300 in value. The canal is also critical for shippers in the Black Sea. For example, 97% of Ukraine’s Cape shipments of iron ore head East-of-Suez, and the canal effectively halves the distance to these markets. Backhaul shipments, such as coal volumes from Australia to Turkey heavily use this route too, again providing significant savings in sailing durations. For the geared ships meanwhile, Suez transits have accounted for 3.9% of this sectors total dry bulk trade so far in 2021. In these markets, the canal is a linchpin for fertiliser trades, which run both East to West and West to East, due to the wide range of goods that make up this cargo group. For example, Supramaxes and Handies haul fertilisers from countries in the Europe and Mediterranean area to Asia via the canal. Conversely we also see large volumes of fertilisers shipped from the Arab Gulf and Red Sea to West-of-Suez destinations such as the US. At the same time, the canal allows for large volumes of steel cargoes to flow from the Far East into Mediterranean countries such as Turkey and Italy. In the other direction, the canal is used for Russian and Ukrainian steel exports to China. More significant impacts could be on the cards for the Panamaxes and Supras, with these markets already tight. Although we forecast Black Sea grain shipments over April to be lower YoY, we still expect around 7.4m tonnes to be shipped before the seasonal lull in activity begins in May. With Chinese demand for grains still extremely high, prolonged Suez closures could translate to more of these ships taking the long route to the Far East, providing a boost to employment at a time of scarce vessel supply. Similarly, steel exports this quarter are on track to reach their highest level in five years. Import demand for these products in some regions is extremely high due to the mismatch between rapidly recovering steel demand and lagging production capacity. Countries such as China and South Korea, which did not see heavy capacity closures during the pandemic, have capitalised on this and have enjoyed a surge in steel sales over the past few months. A combination of these bumper trade flows and increased diversions due to prolonged Suez Canal issues could also lengthen voyages and tighten the market for geared ships further. We don’t know exactly how long the Ever Given will remain grounded in the canal, but we will continue to closely monitor this evolving story. Very recent reports are suggesting that refloating could take weeks, which would certainly have a direct impact on freight rates. Once we have a clearer picture of how long refloating will take, we will be further quantifying the lasting effect of the incident.

Braemar ACM – 26 March 2021

According to Global AG Protein, China has accounted for 61% of the global soybean trade during 2019 to 2021, currently boasting 34% of the world’s soybean stocks.

Due to seasonality and harvest dates, Chinese demand is usually supplied by US volumes during October through March and by Brazilian volumes from March through October.

This season, albeit delayed, Brazil is set to reap a soybean harvest of 133m tonnes according to estimates from the US Department of Agriculture – double the volume seen during the mid-2000’s and above 125.6m tonnes in 2019/20 season.

Moreover, the trend is widely expected to continue due the weak Brazilian real and high future prices for US soybeans.

Likely more good news for the mid-size bulker segment which has been riding new highs recently and lifting other dry bulk segments along with it.

Bulker values are rising by several million dollars each week, according to analysts, due to surging time charter rates and sales concluded at ever-firmer prices. Clarksons Platou Securities said on Monday that sale-and-purchase (S&P) transactions for capesize, panamax and ultramax bulkers had prompted it to increase its asset-value estimates. Five-year-old capesizes are now assessed by Clarksons Research Services at $33m, up by 10% from $30m last week. Two weeks ago, they were $28m. It estimates that 10-year-old capesizes are worth $27.3m, up by nearly 8% from $25.3m last week. They were $21.5m a fortnight ago.

“Other vessel classes are seeing gains as well and our net asset value [NAV] assessments for the equities in our coverage continue to increase,” analysts Frode Morkedal and Omar Nokta said. “On average our NAV assessments have risen by 11% this week, which follows the 35% increase we had discussed last week.” Based on Clarksons’ revised estimates, the biggest gains in NAV this week will be for shipowners with the largest capesize exposure.

Navios Maritime Holdings shows the biggest hike among the companies within Clarksons’ coverage with a 31% gain in estimated NAV, which is currently assessed at $13.50 per share. The analysts said the huge upside is due to Navios’ “substantial” financial leverage. The Greek owner began 2021 with an implied net debt to fleet value of 99%, based on prevailing values three months ago, according to Clarksons Platou Securities’ analysis. “That ratio has since declined to 85% — this is still relatively high but further gains in asset prices, and much higher cash flow, are expected to lead that ratio to decline somewhat rapidly,” the analysts noted.

Clarksons Platou Securities is not the only investment bank to revise its estimates of bulker asset values. Earlier this month, Cleaves increased its assessments for the second time in four weeks. “The positive sentiment in dry bulk shipping is seemingly relentless, in line with our long-standing view given the lowest orderbook on record and strong demand growth,” Joakim Hannisdahl said in a research note on 8 March. Cleaves boosted its bulker value estimates on 15 February after a string of S&P deals were reported at higher levels.

Hannisdahl said rising period rates could support asset prices moving 20% to 53% higher than mid-February levels. “Given the continued strength of one-year TCs [time-charter rates], it thus comes as no surprise that the bid/ask spread for S&Ps has once again narrowed with bids approaching asks,” he wrote. “Thus, we have so far in March seen S&P activity increase at a higher level versus February transactions.” Cleaves estimates a price of $34.5m for a five-year-old capesize and $51m for a newbuilding, excluding scrubbers.

Fast-rising spot rates have stimulated increased interest in the period market, particularly in the panamax and post-panamax markets, which is now extending to capesizes too. Navios Maritime Partners’ 179,100-dwt Navios Luz (built 2010) was reported fixed on a 10 to 14-month time charter to Olam on 17 March. The deal was secured at an index-linked rate of 101% of the capesize 5TC assessment, equivalent to $19,948 per day as of Monday.

US corn shipments to China have been limited in the most recent weeks, though it does not mean that total US corn shipments have been dragging. The US exported 2.2 MMT of corn in the week ended March 11, representing the second highest for any week on record. Weekly US corn inspections have exceeded 2 MMT only four times since 1983, with two of these instances taking place during the current marketing year. In 2017 the US experienced their best March with export totaling 6.7 MMT. Projections have exports through to the 11th of this month already 30% higher than the comparable period four years ago. The USDA currently expects US corn exports to reach 66 MMT this year, a 6.6% increase.

Brazil’s late second crop planting may boost US sales even further. Japan and Mexico traditionally represent about half of US exports. Yet at the time of writing, they occupy only 35% of current sales, as Chinese purchases of 18.7 MMT so far have shrunken market shares of other importers.

At the beginning of the month US corn export sales were reported to have reached 90% of the USDA’s export target for the 2020/2021 marketing year, but supply for exports does not appear to be an issue, and the country has shipped less than 40% of the total so far.

Frenzied activity has returned to the dry freight futures market as bulker spot rates continue to strengthen. Panamax forward-freight agreements (FFAs) are once again the stars of the show, but capesizes and supramaxes have seen huge activity too. “Who wants to be left standing on the platform while the gravy train pulls out of town?” a verbose FFA broker told TradeWinds on Thursday. “Basically the panamax market has been an overnight sensation again, with Asian fixture reports implying that charterers are just booking whatever is floating and checking the rates later.“

April 5TC contracts for panamaxes settled at $28,542 on Thursday, up by $2,128 since the previous close, despite suffering a slight selloff late in the day. Second-quarter (Q2) panamax contracts were not far behind, closing at $26,606 per day or $1,544 above Wednesday’s level. This came on the back of a huge leap forward in panamax spot rates. The panamax 5TC, the weighted average of spot rates on five key routes, was assessed $2,155 higher on Thursday at $25,400 per day. This is the index’s highest level based on the Baltic Exchange’s current methodology and — using the previous calculation — the highest level since mid-September 2010.

“We put on huge value as the Asian trading session crossed into the European hours. This rush was mostly panamax, but everything has to some extent been dragged along for the ride,” the FFA broker told TradeWinds. But sellers began cashing out by lunchtime in London as participants began to feel the top of the market had been reached, he continued. “It doesn’t feel like any form of structural change from bull mode to bear mode, but with so many fixture rumours flying around it was probably a reasonable point to stop and take stock,” the broker said.

Freight Investor Services, the world’s largest FFA broker, told TradeWinds that this week’s positive sentiment and good volumes look set to continue, but was cautious in its optimism. There is firm demand for panamaxes in both the Atlantic and Pacific basins, FIS said, resulting in “healthy” rates for round-trips in the North Pacific and steady fixing activity for ships bound for the north coast of South America from the European Continent. “FFA volumes have been healthy, and there is a contango developing on the front months of the cape[size] and panamax markets, suggesting that the market thinks that this squeeze on tonnage could continue a little while,” a spokesperson for FIS said. “However, despite a solid Q1 [first quarter], it has been volatile, and anyone predicting the next moves on these market with certainty are brave people indeed. We will continue to see this volatility as global economic uncertainty and virus disruption keeps people guessing on any return to ‘normality’, but with new counterparties entering the market, and new contracts coming out, we can but hope that it helps make 2021 a year for dry FFAs traders to remember,” FIS added.

Capesize spot rates broke through the $18,000-per-day level on Thursday, thanks to a comeback in Brazilian iron ore exports bound for China. This fuelled more excitement and buying activity in the futures market, but to a less dramatic extent than for panamaxes. Average capesize spot rates were assessed $942 higher at $18,873 per day, marking the index’s fourth consecutive day of growth. Another $1.00 was added to Baltic panellists’ assessment of spot rates on the Brazil-China route on Thursday, which was estimated at $21.32 per tonne, the highest level seen since October. Thursday also saw a rare fixture for chrome ore at the very firm rate of $26,000 per day for a Bocimar capesize operated by Capesize Chartering Ltd. Danish operator Ultrabulk reportedly fixed the 175,155-dwt Mineral Brugge (built 2011) for a prompt trip from Hong Kong via South Africa to southern China.

It was strong fixtures like this — as well as marker rumours — that lent further support to buying activity in the futures market on Thursday. Prices followed an upwards trajectory for most of the day, but came off slightly as the close of business approached, brokers said. At the end of the day, April 5TC contracts settled at $24,138 per day, which is up by $1,329 from Wednesday’s close. Likewise, Q2 contracts closed $1,359 above Wednesday’s level at $24,465 per day. Third-quarter contracts also stayed above the $24,000 mark at $24,813 per day, which is $604 more than on Wednesday.