Capesize rates saw little gains as Chinese trade participants were away on holidays, leaving the market with thin activities.
Despite the muted activities, the Capesize 5 time charter average still managed to rise by $246 day-on-day to $29,641 on Friday.
The Baltic Dry Index (BDI) kept its upward momentum to 1,749 points on Jun 26, up slightly by 0.63% day-on-day, after finding support from the firm Capesize market.
Sparse activities amid Chinese holidays
Shipping activities were slowed in both Pacific and Atlantic Capesize markets amid the Dragon Boat festival that kept Chinese participants out of the market.
Thus, the Pacific did not see any fresh cargoes, despite Rio Tinto and FMG remained active the market in seeking vessels for H1 July laycan.
However, no fixtures were confirmed yet, while the indicative freight heard on the west coast Australia to Qingdao route was in the $9.60- $9.75/wmt range.
On the contrary, mining major, Vale was heard to fix several vessels for moving iron ore to China for end-July laycan at around mid-$20s/wmt to high-$21s/wmt, while for early-August laycans, the freight level was heard at high-$19s/wmt for the key Brazil to China route.
Bunker prices spot slight gains amid low shipping demand
VLSFO prices rose by $6/mt to $324.50/mt at the port of Singapore, despite bearish market sentiments.
The negative market outlook was attributed to rising global coronavirus pandemic cases that lowered shipping activities and bunkers demand.
As such, China’s VLSFO exports dropped by 20% month-on-month to 1.14 million mt in May, according to customs data.
Likewise, Singapore’s total bunker demand is slated to fall by 4.6% month-on-month to 3.92 million mt in May, based on preliminary data.