Capesize freight rates took a breather from previous bullish rally, while the market saw more supplies free from bad weather-related situations.
The Capesize 5 time charter average, then went down by $374 day-on-day to $61,309 on Friday, due to some profit taking on the paper market.
The Baltic Dry Index (BDI) then dropped slightly by $7, down 0.15% day-on-day, to $4,644, sliding from the record high decade levels.
Profit-takings after record-high rally
Both the Pacific and Atlantic basins saw lesser activities as trade participants tried to digest decade high freight rates from recent rally.
Thus, the Pacific market seemed to slow down with fewer cargoes in the market, though tonnage supply remained tight.
Similarly, the Atlantic market had heard of no fresh fixtures, though market optimism remained high as they expected more shipments from Brazil, unaffected by bad weather conditions and higher iron ore outputs.
Bunker prices rise on slow recovery of crude production
The bunker prices rallied on firm crude market, as the price of VLSFO rose by $5.50/mt to $565.50/mt in the port of Singapore.
The supply tightness persisted in the crude market, as oil production struggled to recover from pre-Hurricane Ida in the Gulf of Mexico.
As US Bureau of Safety of Environmental Enforcement estimated that around 31 oil platforms remained shut with a loss of 294,414 barrels per day at the Gulf, while the storm was believed to cause a total loss of 30.1 million barrels.
Due to reduced production, banks had been optimistic on oil price movement, with Goldman Sachs predicting Brent crude prices to hit $90/bbl by year-end, while UBS expect oil prices to reach $80/bbl by the end of September.