The 2000-09 decade saw the “China boom” and an accompanying commodity bull run transform dry freight rates, redraw seaborne trade patterns, create chronic port congestion and lay the basis for a record bulker orderbook.
This decade of change brought unprecedented volatility to the Baltic Exchange Dry Index. The average daily movement in the BDI was 41 points in the “noughties” as opposed to just 7 points during the 1990s. Despite wild fluctuations, which lifted the BDI to an all-time high of 11,793 points in May 2008 before it crashed to a decade-low of 633 points in December 2008, the BDI was back close to its ten-year average of 3,322 points by late December 2009.
New extremes in charter rates were nowhere better illustrated than in the Capesize sector. Having only broken the $30,000/day mark for the first time in May 2003, the average of the 4 Cape TCs set an all-time high of $233,988/day in June 2008. An ensuing 99%-fall, however, left earnings at a decade-low of $2,316/day just six months later.
News
Newbuilding deliveries slow down in February
09-03-2010
According to SSY estimates, dry bulk carrier newbuilding deliveries experienced a deceleration in all vessel sizes in February, down from 6.94 Mdwt (86 vessels) in January to 4.34 Mdwt (43 vessels). ... [more]
Maintenance To Reduce South Korean Refinery Activity in March
09-03-2010
Schedules from South Korea’s four refiners suggest that the country’s refineries will process 2.19 Mbpd of crude oil in March, about a 145 kbpd decrease from last month, Dow Jones reports. ... [more]
Richards Bay Coal Exports
08-03-2010
Coal exports from the Richards Bay Coal Terminal fell by 0.26 Mt (-5%) from one year earlier to 4.94 Mt in February. However, this was 0.07 Mt higher than the previous month, according to Bloomberg. ... [more]
Indian iron ore spot prices soften
08-03-2010
Recent weakness in Chinese steel prices combined with the year-to-date high in Chinese iron ore port stockpiles have resulted in a softening in iron ore spot prices. The delivered cost of spot iron ... [more]
Opec Members’ Output Target Indiscipline Rises in February
08-03-2010
February saw the combined crude production of Opec members (excluding Iraq) reach an average of 26.89 mbpd, up from 26.74 mbpd in January and 2.05 mbpd above the organisation’s stated output target, ... [more]
Events
World Coaltrans Conference
26-10-2009 - 27-10-2009
SSY’s Head of Research, John Kearsey, spoke at the World Coaltrans conference in London at the end of October. His paper outlined the main factors behind the dramatic rebound in dry bulk freight rates in 2009 and the threats posed to market ... [more]
Charles Lynch to Join SSY
15-07-2009 - 00-00-0000
Simpson, Spence, and Young (SSY) is pleased to announce that Charles Lynch, President of C.M. Lynch and Associates and the members of C.M. Lynch and Associates will be joining Simpson, SSY. Charles Lynch will be assuming the role of ... [more]
World Dry Bulk Shipping Summit
30-06-2009 - 01-07-2009
Derek Langston, Director at SSY Consulatncy & Research, presented a paper at the World Dry Bulk Shipping Summit in London on 30 June 2009. The paper “Indicators In An Opaque Market” examined the key indicators for freight at a volatile time for the ... [more]
Markets
Sale & Purchase
05-03-2010
Whilst the turn-over has been reduced, the market remains firm with positive interest, especially for Dry Bulk tonnage. The BDI has moved forward during the week and is now in ... [more]
Dry Cargo
Capesize
05-03-2010
After a slow start to the week following off the back of the negative sentiment of last week, rates began to soar rapidly from Tuesday ... [more]
Atlantic Panamax
05-03-2010
Ships in the Atlantic basin have been evaporating resulting in a very firm and active start to the week. But as most prompt ships were ... [more]
Pacific Panamax
05-03-2010
After a slow start in the East with owners not in a rush to fix, momentum gained pace on the back of further East Coast South America and ... [more]
Atlantic Handysize
05-03-2010
The market remained firm, the volume of reported fixtures was low, however the fixtures that did hit the market were all at least as high ... [more]
Pacific Handysize
05-03-2010
Week 9 brought us in to March and as expected we have now seen the market firm and move back to fresh highs in the Supramax trades. At the ... [more]
Tankers
08-03-2010
Chile’s top oil refinery Bio Bio, with 116 kb/d capacity, which was damaged by the earthquake on 27 February, could take at least 60-90 ... [more]
Chemicals
08-03-2010
Americas: USG/Caribs remains unchanged with pockets of space open, but mostly remaining tight on FH March dates while SH March shows strong ... [more]
Gas
LNG
16-02-2010
Shanghai LNG Shipping Co, a joint venture between China National Offshore Oil Corp, China LNG Shipping (Holdings) Co and Shenergy Group, ... [more]
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