Coal news and updates

The far east Hanysize, Handymax, Supermax market remained steady last week

The Dry Bulk market closed off on Friday (last week) noting small gains on the back of stronger performance in the Panamax segment, which was for a second week in a row the main driving force behind the market's improvement, while Capes were the sole negative exception across the board, said Intermodal in its latest weekly report. The broker further noted that, at the same time, the period market saw good enquiry across all sizes, while in most cases owners managed to get numbers higher than the last done.

The slightly improved sentiment that the market has been witnessing during the past days seems to have lifted spirits a bit but as long as average rates for the bigger size segments still fail to cover daily OPEX it might be premature to start talking for a definite positive reversal just yet. Saying that, the paper market for the month of July reveals optimism for the entire market ,with rates for Capes and Panamaxes enjoying the bigger improvements compared to current levels.

Commenting on Cape, the Greece based broker said that, the Capesize segment witnessed a quiet week across both basins, with limited fresh business coming through especially during the first half of the week, while the period market saw some activity just before the weekend.

The Atlantic remained for a third week in a row the backbone of activity for the Panamax segment, with ECSA cargoes lifting the market yet again and period activity sustaining its volumes, while things in the Continent continue to be very slow for another week.

Intermodal says, the Far East Handysize/Handymax/Supramax market remained steady last week and at the same time the North Atlantic was once more the region where most action was taking place, while ballasters in the Black Sea/Med region were still looking at thin business.

source: http://www.coalspot.com