Capesize paper market slid to downward trend on limited activities ahead of the May Labor holidays.
Thus, the Capesize 5 time charter average went down by $120 to $8,172 with impending holidays in the Asia, such as China and Japan enjoying their Golden week holidays soon.
Minning majors like Rio Tinto and FMG were still in the Pacific market seeking vessels to move iron ore out of Australia for mid-May laycans.
For instance, FMG was heard to fix a vessel for moving iron ore from Port Hedland to Qingdao for May 13-15 laycan at $4.05/wmt level, while Rio Tinto was heard to fix a similar shipment done around at $4/wmt.
Quiet Trans-Atlantic market
There was limited trading activities in the Trans-Atlantic market due to the various lockdown that affected raw materials shipping to the European steelmakers.
For instance, the steel production of the European Union (EU) had been halved due to the coronavirus pandemic with almost 75% losses of new order bookings, according to Eurofer.
The low steel output of the EU was due to almost complete shutdown or some market estimate at 70-80% closure of the automotive industry, while construction activities dropped by almost 40% during the coronavirus pandemic period.
Another downward trend for bunker prices
VLSFO bunker prices dropped further by $11 to $209/mt in the port of Singapore, following crude oil price volatility and bearish market demand.
Apparently, the collapse of Hin Leong, one of the biggest bunker traders in region had led to higher bunker margins in the port of Singapore as compared to other bunker hubs of the world.
According to Platts, the premium of VLSFO delivered in Singapore had almost quadrupled to $29.13/mt as of Apr 24, as compared to record low of $7.39/mt on Apr 9.
Singapore-based oil trading firm, Hin Leong had reportedly made a loss around $800 million and left the city-state’s bunker market tightening, while the rest of the world’s market facing soft demand from the COVID 19 pandemic.