Capesize rates rallied further without any signs of slowdown as the rates chased for new height for the year.
Thus, the Capesize 5 time charter average surged by $1,078 day-on-day to $33,760 on Monday, with the curve trending up to highs for July, August, Sept and Q3 contracts.
Following the Capesize rally, the Baltic Dry Index (BDI) just came shy of the 2,000 marks by a few whiskers and reached 1,956 reading, up 62 points or 3.27% day-on-day.
More ballasting toward west Australia
More shipowners are joining the bandwagon to ballast their vessels toward Western Australia for better returns, instead of their intended ballasting toward Atlantic market.
The switch was due to the declaration of Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) that stated that any ships with crew on board for more than 11 months will be detained for quarantine.
This resulted in more changes in crew schedules and the weather delays in China might tightened vessel supply further, which support freight rates.
High bunker prices to support freight rates
VLSFO prices rebounded from recent flattish movement and went up by $4.50/mt to $339/mt at the port of Singapore.
The Brent crude prices dipped slightly toward $42 per barrel, while the WTI maintained at the $40 per barrel mark, amid market bearish sentiments on rising coronavirus cases and their effects on oil demand.
However, there were signs of recovery as well, with euro-zone’s economic sentiment rose to 75.7 points in June from 67.5 readings in May, while US rate of unemployment declined 11.1%, and China’s private PMI hitting to highest level at 51.2 points in June 2020 since Dec 2019.