Freight catches fire, 'more to come'

摘要

The freight market picked up Thursday with brokers reporting a 'hectic' end to the week, after a quiet start to the month. There was intense activity for time charter and period vessels going into the end of the week, and one source said 100,000 dollars a day had been secured on time charter no less than three times on Friday. He also said that vessels were being taken on period from three to five years. "We can't put our finger on it. It's usually a quiet time of year but everyone all of a sudden has jumped back into the market at once." It appears the anticipated pick up in demand for iron ore in H2 is coming to fruition, with reports of a number of vessels booked from Brazil into China and also Rotterdam. One source said that iron ore shipments from Brazil in July had been very strong, and anticipated that strength would continue for the remainder of the year. He said: "We're expecting an extra 40-42mt of iron ore shipments worldwide this year," a factor which, he said, could potentially see H2 'very strong'. However, he warned that with forecasts that Australian vessel queues should fall, thus freeing up vessels, there is also some downside potential in the market.