Britannia Radio

GSW Reports First week review of global freight market in 2011 18-Jan-11 No significant developments took place in the transportation sector in black sea, whether coasters or river-sea vessels, early January. Unable to deal with mounting pressure these days, freight rates for major cargo did not manage to rise and hence largely stable. The most frequently shipped cargo from black sea ports was steel products and steel raw material and freight rates were generally stable at the beginning of the year. The transportation of 5000 tons of steel products from Odessa to Marmara ports cost US$17.5 per ton whereas 3000 tons lots of steel scrap were shipped for US$22.5 per ton via the same route. In the case of Azov Sea ports, heavy cargo activity was seen in Mariupol with only smaller lots being shipped from Russian and Ukrainian ports. With the imposition of ice-class restrictions, the number of vessels available for use has declined to a significant extent. Most of the finished and semi-finished steel products were shipped from Russian and Ukrainian ports. With the beginning of the month, freight rate for the transportation of lots of 3000 tons of steel products, from Mariupol to Marmara, stayed at US$22 per ton. At the beginning of January, the Mediterranean freight market became stable before the new year. Not only charterers but also ship owners are not expecting demand to improve until at the end of current month. Freight rate for major cargo stayed at the same level as that of late December. Steel products were shipped generally frequently in smaller and larger batches to MENA region. At the beginning of the year, the cost of transportation of same sized lots carried from Venus to Algiers was charged at US$25.5 per ton. A charge of transportation of metallurgical raw material did not change and stayed at the same level as that of the end of December. The demand for the spot shipments of scrap was stable and balanced with the number of available vessels. The demand for steel products exported from ports of Europe and Baltic states surged to some extent and freight rates rose €.5 to €1 per ton in the Baltic freight market. Although the demand of steel shipments from Russian ports was poor, freight rates at St. Petersburg went up by €.5 per ton. Iron raw material shipped from the Baltic sea ports decline since December. Scrap was shipped occasionally by means of smaller vessels from St. Petersburg to Turkish ports. Small batches were seldom carried to European region and only transport activity from Tallinn inched upwards. The situation is currently bright at the northern sea ports and scrap shipment from Europe to Turkey were forecasted to rise. Scrap freight rate was kept at the same level as that of the last week. Business activity in the Caspian sea fleet market was weak during the first week. Major cargo was shipped in frequently and transportation activity in spot markets was close to zero especially in Russia due to severe weather. Generally, ship owners were not bullish about prices which translated into freight rates staying low. By late December, the charge for 3000 ton lots of flat steel products transported from Astrakhan to Anzali turned out to be US$19.5 per ton on an average marking a decline of US$3.5 per ton as compared to early 2010. In the Far East region, the shipping activity from ports in Russia went down due to continuous winter holidays. However, steel products and nonferrous metals were shipped as frequently as before, however, in smaller batches under steady freight rates. Please don't hesitate to contact us if you have any suggestion, question or comments Thanks & best regards GSW Reports Department reports@globalsteelweb.com