Capesize freight rates managed to rise toward year-end, even though shipping demand slowed ahead of the holidays season.
The Capesize 5 time charter average then hiked up by $224 day-on-day to $16,633 on Dec 24, despite slow trading day with only several trades being transacted in tight range.
The Baltic Dry Index (BDI) was almost flattish and booked a small gain of 0.29% or 4 points to 1,366 readings.
Slow trading amid holiday seasons
The thin shipping activities were due to trade participants taking breaks for the holidays season, with many of them clearing their books for the year.
So far, the Atlantic market continued to attract much market attention due to the thinner of its ballast list, which led trade participants to expect bullish freight rates ahead for the key Brazil-to-China route.
On the contrary, the market participants were less optimistic about the Pacific market, which experienced a flurry of fixtures beforehand and resulted in thin cargo list.
Nevertheless, most trade participants believed the key shipping routes will be supported by high iron ore demand from China, though there was some iron ore price corrections recently as Chinese regulatory industry body tried to curb speculative trading.
Bunker prices flat despite market optimism
Bunker prices were flat amid holidays season, as the VLSFO remained static at $404/mt at the port of Singapore.
The stable bunker prices were supported by firmer crude oil prices with Brent crude prices hovering around $51 per barrel, due to market optimism over Covid vaccination and Brexit deal.
However, the market bears were not out yet, as the global oil demand remained low and OPEC + may add some crude production in the new year, which put pressure for further price upticks.