By Robert Wright, Transport Correspondent
One of the world's main shipping markets has shown signs of recovery, with a revival in Chinese demand for iron ore and coal pushing some average charter prices up almost threefold in the past week.
The revival in prices, after a disastrous six months for the industry in which charter rates fell nearly 99 per cent for the largest vessels, could encourage ship owners to bring mothballed vessels back into service.
One participant said yesterday some owners were able to charge enough to cover the costs of operating Capesize ships, the largest dry bulk carriers. Average rates for these ships, which move coal and iron ore, have nearly tripled over the past week. Smaller ships have yet to show the same recovery as Capesize vessels.
Average spot rates, the cost of carrying a single cargo immediately, finished the week at $8,261 a day for Capesizes, according to figures from Pareto Dry Cargo, an
The previous week's average was $2,763, one of the lowest yet seen. Pareto reported a long-term charter of a Capesize ship at $17,500 a day for a year, more than the daily basic operating costs of such a ship. Long-term charter rates are, unusually, higher than those in the spot market because of expectations that the spot market will recover.
Source: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b1bf3298-ca47-11dd-93e5-000077b07658.html
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