Coal news and updates

The rates for capes shot up last week: giving this recent rally some much needed legs

The Dry Bulk market noted another positive closing last week, entirely supported by Capesize performance, which managed to balance things out in a market that was partly moving up and partly running out of steam, said Intermodal, an Athens based ship broker. The broker further noted that, whether this slowdown in the rest of the segments is due to seasonal reasons or whether the potential of this recent upturn for dry bulk freight rates has reached its ceiling for now, is something that will be probably easier to answer in a couple of weeks time, but we would definitely feel more comfortable if the BDI was currently moving ahead based on improved performance by the entire market rather than Capes alone.

According to intermodal broker, rates for Capes shoot up last week, giving this recent rally some much needed legs, as we are now entering the fifth consecutive week of gains for the segment. Activity in both basins remained firm throughout the week, while this current week has also kicked off on a very strong note, reflected both in fixture rumours but also in the paper market that keeps strengthening day by day.

The broker also noted that, the Panamax segment underperformed the market last week, while things started to slow down considerably mid-week onwards. The Panamax Atlantic market moved sideways with charterers out of East Coast South America trying to force ideas down, while Pacific rates were off last dones.

The Handy/Handymax/Supramax Atlantic market saw overall steady enquiry last week with rates holding around last dones, while rates in the Pacific were looking for direction during the biggest part of the week, says Intermodal.

source: http://coalspot.com