MID-SHIP Report: Dry Bulk Freight Market – Sept 11, 2024

September 11, 2024

The story of the Capesize market this year and this summer has been strong supply-side fundamentals. The daily average of the time charter routes has peaked twice in recent months – $29,365 in early May and $32,250 in early July – we today stand at about $28,000. The largest bulkers have enjoyed a volatile summer in June and July and a strong run-up since the start of August. Vessel owners are bullish on the Cape sector.

Over the summer months, the Panamax market has seen a fair amount of volatility; the time charter average rates have picked up in mid-June at $17,700, dropped to $13,700 the first half of July, partially recouped by the end of July, reaching $16,200, and finally slide down to the current $11,500.

The Supra/Ultra market has traded within a narrow range across the summer months. Positional volatility reigns supreme. Similar to the Panamax market, the Pacific Basin is where the action has been this summer. There is optimism amongst owners that the levels have hit bottom and there should be a spike in the near term that will carry through Q4.

The Handy market has had a relatively strong summer. As the weeks went by, expectations of the usual summer lull kept getting pushed back, and only toward the second half of August did we start to see a slowdown. However, the market has rebounded overall rather quickly, and this week, there was optimism throughout the globe. The freight futures forward assessment signals some optimism, and the period inquiry is strong as a result.

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