EMEA News
Istanbul Freight Index: 2014 Week 5
Freight rates once again remained largely stable this week amid steep declines ahead of Chinese New Year holiday elsewhere, for instance in larger tonnages like handysize.
Ice campaign has been resumed in Nikolaev as well as Azov regions, which caused high non-ice classed vessel avails in lower parts of Black Sea, Marmara and East Mediterranean.
In the Black Sea basin, 4.000 tonne steels were offered at 20-21 USD/tonne from Mariupol to Marmara.
This compares with last week's "fast loading" coals and suggest a 0,5 to 1 dollar/tonne improvement.
In an intra- Black Sea shipment, 6.000 tonnes of billets shipped from Bartın to Yuzhnny were spotted at 15 USD a tonne with good loading terms.
In the East Mediterranean, 1.500 tonnes of fertilizers shipped from Northeast Greece to Mersin fetched around 30 USD per tonne, earning about 2.200 USD a day to a small coaster.
Owner hopes to fix a similar cargo from East Mediterranean to Adriatic, sustaining similar daily earnings.
Gearless vessels that were offering 21-22 USD for cement shipments from Marmara to Libya at the end of 2013 now offer around 18-19 USD per tonne. Which is lower than a month ago but stable week-over-week.
Geared 4.500 tonnes of fertilizers from Yuzhnny to Ravenna was fixed for mid-high 30 USD a tonne, which is more or less same as last week's rates except for remarkably fast loading/discharge, boosting daily returns.
As for returns, steels and grains are offered at 15-16 USD per tonne to Aegean or Marmara.
In terms of Black Sea - West Mediterranean range, owners of a modern 5.000 dwt vessel reported negotiating with charterers for 4.200 tonnes of fertilizers ex-Romania bound for Western Algeria. The rate was mid-40USD/tonne with slower discharging terms.
According to Berlin based BMTI's recent weekly report, a visible stabilisation is the new trend in Baltic, Continent and North Sea basin, buoying sentiment for the first quarter.
Meanwhile, Northern Baltic region finally started to freeze with ice formation expected throughout the week.
3.000 tonne typical steels from St. Petersburg to Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp-Ghent now quote around 22,5 EUR a tonne showing mild improvement. 4.000-5.000 tonne general cargoes from U.K. East Coast to Denmark are now offered at 12 EUR a tonne.
