Capesize freight rates rebounded on improved rates, despite some port closures in China due to bad weather and shipping accident.
The Capesize 5 time charter average then went up by $393 day-on-day to $12,282 on Tuesday, after some market talks of raising coal quotas for Chinese importers.
Thus, the Baltic Dry Index (BDI) moved up by 1.98% or 24 points to 1,235 readings, on better freight rates in the Capesize markets.
Last week of active trading before holidays period
The Pacific market drew some supports from coal shipping demand for the shipping routes of Australia and Indonesia to China.
Otherwise, the Pacific market had a short cargo list, with only one mining major, Rio Tinto remained active in market, seeking to move iron ore cargoes for end-December laycan in the west Australia to China route.
Meanwhile, there was much improvement in the Atlantic market, due to the thinner ballaster list and more fixtures done by operators.
According to trade sources, more shipping fixtures might be concluded in this week, due to upcoming holiday season at the end of month, while iron ore miners tried to ramp up shipments to meet their annual shipment guidance.
Firm bunker prices continue to support freight rates
The firm bunker prices continued to offer support for freight rates, as the VLSFO rose by $4/mt to $397/mt at the port of Singapore.
The uptick in bunker prices traced to recent strength in the crude oil price movement as Brent crude prices rose above $50 per barrel on news of oil tanker attack off Saudi Arabia at the start of the week.
On the downside, OPEC expected global fuel consumption to rebound slower in the Q1 2021, after slashing oil demand by 1 million barrels per day (bdp) for the first quarter next year to a total demand of 95.89 million bpd for the full year, down 350,000 bpd as previous estimated.