FIS Castaway – Eps.12 – Unprecedented Coverage in Unprecedented Times

This week the group discuss supply and demand in crude, freight, iron ore, and copper markets. We explore the reasons behind the freight markets jump, oil’s crawl upwards, and iron ore’s price stall, among other market news and trends. https://freightinvestorservices.com/blog/fis-castaway-eps-12-unprecedented-coverage-in-unprecedented-times/

Oil Through the Looking Glass 17/6/20

*Crude Stocks and Virus Cases* This morning we read that the API announced their prediction of US stock changes as a build of 3.86 mil bbls. It’s not as big as previous predicted builds we’ve seen recently, but it’s a build nonetheless, and has added to negative sentiment overnight that caused prices to fall. We …

Capesize surges to year-high level on strong iron ore demand

Capesize rates hit a record high for the year as strong iron ore demand continue to support shipping demand. The Capesize 5 time charter average reached $14,786 on Tuesday, the highest level in the year and up $1,489 at day-on-day basis. Buoyed by the robust Capesize market, the Baltic Dry Index shot up beyond the …

Oil Through the Looking Glass 16/6/20

*Covid-19 vs Supply Cuts* The tussle between bearish and bullish news continues for crude. Coronavirus cases rose to more than 8 million worldwide yesterday, with infections surging in Latin America, while the United States and China are dealing with fresh outbreaks. On the supply side the UAE energy minister said that he had confidence OPEC+ …

Capesize moves up despite slight cooldown

Capesize rates moved up again on bullish market sentiments for both the Pacific and Atlantic basins. The Capesize 5 time charter average rose by $887 to $13,297 on Monday, reaching new highs for the prompt, while testing the recent highs on Q4 and Cal 21. The Baltic Dry Index also increased by 5.42% to 973 …

Iron ore futures fall as China steel demand slows, virus cases rise

Iron ore futures fell sharply on Monday on concerns over China’s recovery. Data released on Monday showed China churned out a record of 92.27 million tonnes of steel. According to SteelHome data, iron ore port inventories fell to 107.75 million tonnes last week, the lowest since October 2016.   While the decline in port inventories …

The Baltic Dry Index – ray of hope or footnote in history?

COVID-19 will haunt a generation. Be it from personal loss of friends or family members, loss of employment or the loss of an investment. With nearly 8 million cases worldwide the pandemic has shown no sign of slowing down.   Global cases worldwide (source Bloomberg) Infection cases may continue to rise, creating further havoc for …

Capesize rates firm up in both basins

Capesize rates continued to rally as shipping demand improved in both the Pacific and Atlantic basins. Therefore, the Capesize 5 time charter average increased by $1,734 day-on-day to $12,410 on Friday, after strong afternoon session that pushed out of the tight trading seen in the morning session. This prompted the Baltic Dry Index to push …