A brand-new capesize bulk carrier owned by Zodiac Maritime has been reported fixed on a short-term period charter today, while the the strengthening capesize and panamax spot markets helped the Baltic Dry Index climb 30 points from Monday’s level to reach 643.
Cotswold (197,611 dwt, built 2016) will begin a four- to six-month period charter to Uniper when it delivers in Tianjin between May 20-25. The contract was fixed at $8,500 daily, according to Baltic Exchange data. The vessel was delivered from South Korea’s Sungdong shipyard in January.
The fixture is the first period contract for a capesize to be reported since April 27, signalling charterers’ renewed willingness to lock in short-term rates before rates in the spot market rise further.
Spot rates in the cape market have risen each consecutive trading day for the past week. Today, the Baltic Capesize Index’s (BCI) weighted timecharter average rate (TCA) leapt $1,o51 from Monday’s level and was assessed at $7,791 per day.
Rates for trips from the Continent/Mediterranean to China/Japan (C9_14) were today assessed $1,350 higher than Monday at $16,505 per day.
Trans-Pacific round voyages from China/Japan (C10_14) have also seen a boost in rates. Rates on the route were today assessed at $6,468 per day, up $1,168 from Monday.
