On Wednesday the Baltic Exchange noted there are rumours that a cape controlled by Navios Maritime Holdings (Navios) of Greece was fixed for $30,000 a day.
In a daily market note the organisation said the 179,200-dwt Navios Etoile (built 2010) was taken for a year but admitted the identity of the charterer isn’t clear.
Brokers claim Cargill paid $29,000 per day for the 169,053-dwt Navios Antares (built 2010) in a fixture with the same duration but noted the cape was relet to the charterer, which means it’s unlikely that Navios is poised to profit from this transaction.
It is also widely believed that the same commodities trader picked up the 203,100-dwt Newmax (built 2012) from Athens-based bulker operator Transmed Shipping for 24 months at a rate of $31,000 daily, the Baltic Exchange told members today.
Market sources say SwissMarine has been active on the period front as well after firming up a fixture tied to the 181,000-dwt Frontier Expedition (built 2013), which fetched approximately $28,000 per day in a deal with a duration of 11 to 13 months.
These contacts also claim the same charterer decided to hang on to the 180,100-dwt Pacific Resource (built 2010) for another year at a rate of $27,800 per day but were unable to agree on how much the ship had been earning prior to the extension.
Brokers tell TradeWinds it’s also worth pointing out that diversified Italian operator Bottiglieri, Rizzo, DeCarlini Armatori secured a two-year time charter for one of its capesize bulkers earlier this week when fixture activity first started to soar.
While observers are impressed with the duration of the deal involving the 178,100-dwt Orsola Bottiglieri (built 2011) they say it’s also important to note the $27,000 day rate is more than two-times higher than the daily levels the same ship had seen on a six-month deal that just expired.
In response to the rising tide of premium period deals Fearnleys and other European brokerages that follow the drybulk market are telling clients they would not be surprised to see freight rates surpass the $30,000 mark with increased regularity in the coming week.
Last week, Fearnleys said capes in the 170,000-dwt category were commanding day rates of around $23,000 when hired for a year. Today, the same firm indicated the current average for one-year fixtures stands at around $28,000, which also represents the average high thus far for 2014.
According to data from the Baltic Exchange day rates for capesize bulkers trading in the spot market have topped $19,300. In a daily note Global Hunter Securities pointed out that this is 14.2% higher than yesterday and nearly 55% above levels recorded just seven days ago.
