Coal news and updates

The rates for capes kept rallying last week

Strong Capesize performance kept supporting the Dry Bulk market last week, which noted another positive weekly closing, while rates for the rest of the segments were moving directionless for the bigger part of the week, still denying market participants a full-on change of sentiment, said Greece based ship broker Intermodal in its recent weekly report.

According to the broker, the devaluation of the yuan by China is of course stealing the spotlight in the case of the Dry Bulk trade as well. The move, which is without a doubt extending the global currency war, is bound to affect demand for Dry Bulk commodities, while it also points out the persistent weakness of the local economy to live up to the expectations built up during the past years. Saying that, the determination of the Chinese government to support the economy is undeniable and this latest decision could be marking a series of growth supporting steps that might partly offset the trade negative effects from the devaluation.

The broker noted that, the rates for Capes kept rallying last week, on the back of improved enquiry in both basins and strengthening sentiment. Things nonetheless started to slow down just before the weekend, while we expect rates for the segment to remain in tighter range this current week.

Commenting on Panamax, Intermodal says that, the Panamax segment kept underperforming the market for yet another week, on the back of a quieter Atlantic market, while activity out of both the Continent and the Pacific were also denying the built up of positive momentum.

The Handy/Handymax/Supramax Atlantic market was a bit slower last week, with fresh business out of ECSA slowing down and numbers out of the Pacific keep losing steam as the week was progressing.

source: http://coalspot.com