Pacific panamax rates slump as cargoes dry up

Technorati Tags: Baltic Dry Index,Baltic Dry Indices,Ship Chartering,Shipchartering,Voyage Fixtures,Time Charter Fixtures,Panamax,Capesize,Handymax,Handysize,Supramax,Dry Cargo Fixtures,Bulk Cargo Fixtures,Baltic Exchange,Freight Review,Maritime Baltic Index,TNT Freight Review,Cris De Angelis,Toepfer,Ioicos Celebrity,Amira,Bulk Carrier Slump,Panamax Slump,Iron Ore slump,Baltic Index Slump

Keith Wallis, Hong Kong - Monday 23 March 2009

PACIFIC panamax rates have slumped and are showing little chance of a quick revival as few cargoes enter the market and the tonnage list gets longer by the day.
“It’s carnage,” said one Hong Kong-based broker who preferred to remain nameless. “Current Pacific panamax rates are barely covering operating costs and with a dearth of cargos and more and more ships coming available, rates are bound to fall further”.
“It’s the age old problem – too few cargoes chasing too many ships,” he added.
A Shanghai-based broker who preferred anonymity, said: “April cargoes have all but dried up. Whether charterers anticipated the market and were holding back cargoes waiting for rates to drop or whether there are simply no cargoes will be something we’ll know shortly.’’
“Even if there is a flurry of fixing, the oversupply of tonnage means the new business is unlikely to lift rates,” he added.
This came as the Baltic Exchange average time charter rate closed on today at around $11,900, down about $4,400 on the week.
Brokers said a continent-Far East voyage was worth just under $18,900 per day, down $7,500 per day from a week earlier, while rates for a Pacific roundtrip hovered at slightly below $9,000 per day, a fall of $5,000 in a week.
By comparison, the Baltic Exchange’s pacific round voyage rate was up slightly to $9,013 per day on today.
The broker’s backhaul rate, shipping cargoes from Asia to Europe, hovered at around $5,500 per day.
The Hong Kong broker said: “It’s difficult to see were the buoyancy is going to come from to lift rates.”
Recent fixtures included the 2007-built, 74,000 dwt Cris de Angelis which was taken by Toepfer for a North Pacific voyage carrying grain from Singapore to Japan at $8,000 per day. AHT took the 1982-built, 66,000 dwt Iolcos Celebrity for an iron ore cargo to China at $9,000 per day. BHP Billiton fixed the 2001-built, 74,000 dwt Amira for a spot voyage carrying coal from eastern Australia to Egypt at $6,250 per day.
With the slump in spot Pacific panamax rates, brokers said period business had almost evaporated with barely a handful of fixtures in the course of last week. One of the few deals was STX Pan Ocean which fixed the 2008-built, 77,000 dwt Wen Zhu Hai for three to four months at $12,500 per day.