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| Economy |
| Baltic sea freight index up on higher rates across vessel segment |
| 2016-03-28 |
| The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, rose on Thursday, helped by higher rates for bigger vessels. The overall index that factors in the rates for capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize shipping vessels, was up five points to 406 points. The capesize index rose seven points or 3.57 percent to 203 points. Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, were up $77 to $2,082. The panamax index was up eight points at 466 points. Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes, rose $58 to $3,731. Among smaller vessels, the supramax index rose five points to 473 points, while the handysize index was up two points at 268 points. Bloomberg chart for the BDI here |
| Posted by:badanov |
| #4 According to a railroads trade art that was discussing decline in intermodal in ound from Asia was this : decline in oil prices allowed ship owners options to transit around south america (cheaper than canal tolls) or return to china around Africa. either way adds to cruise duration and would boost thr baltic |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2016-03-28 22:04 |
| #3 Just another fly in the ointment---Lake Gatun in the Panama Canal is in the dry season, and the lake level is lowering because of the lowered amount of rain in the watershed supplying the lake. That means there are restrictions on ship draft. That could limit how many containers can be loaded on a ship. Large ships that cannot carry full loads may be more economical to move around the Cape than through the Panama Canal. I do not know all the economics, but it could affect large ship traffic through the Canal. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2016-03-28 19:54 |
| #2 The gas may be less expensive, but the engineering, fabrication, and vessel modification costs for storage and delivery, at this point, rather negate the savings in fuel. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2016-03-28 16:04 |
| #1 Upgrades to ships using less expensive gas power so as to make them much less costly to operate also. This will cull the herd. Scrap value will drop. |
| Posted by: Dale 2016-03-28 06:39 |