Capesize bulker owners are moving their assets over to the Atlantic basin amid lower steel profits and falling spot rates as the sector enters into its slow season.
The weighted time-charter average for the ships dropped 14% on Wednesday to $17,790 per day after sliding 11.4% on Tuesday to $20,709 per day, according to Baltic Exchange assessments.
Steel prices, meanwhile, have fallen amid high iron-ore prices as China's supply of both commodities rise and new construction slows possibly as economic stimulus money dries up.
