Capesize freight rates retreated from recent rally, as trade participants took a breather from the bullish market outlook.
The Capesize 5 time charter average then went down by $536 day-on-day to $17,353 on Thursday, after a choppy session.
The Baltic Dry Index (BDI) also dropped slightly by 0.51% or 10 points to 1,970 readings, amid softening freight rates.
Lower freight rates amid good shipping demand
The market seemed to calm down after the recent rally, and ship operators began to stay at the sidelines as market sentiment cooled off in Brazil.
Trade participants expected April to be a better month for shipping off Brazil as the rainy season will be ended by then in allowing more iron ore exports, while the ballaster list is slated to be short during that month.
For the Pacific market, fixtures had thrived due to strong shipping demand, though there were some market concerns over the lengthy tonnage list near the end-March loading window which depressed freight rates.
Bunker prices rebound on better oil demand estimate
Bunker prices rebounded from previous day losses, as the price of VLSFO bounced up by $14/mt to $525/mt in the port of Singapore.
Strong crude prices had supported the rebounding bunker prices, as OPEC+ predicted that oil demand will rise by 5.89 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2021, up 6.5% from previous estimate.
Thus, the annual oil demand is expected to reach a total of 96.3 million bpd with most of the demand coming toward the second half of 2021, in view of easing of travel restriction, summer driving and economic recovery from the vaccine rollout.