The Azov coasters market spent the 32nd week in difficult negotiations on the rates level. As a result, however, nothing really changed, and the working rates are now considered to be about $15-16 per ton of wheat on the basis of the voyage from Rostov to Samsun, Glogos Project reports. At the same time, the number of cargo offers compensated for the low activity on the market due to the holidays.
Some traders tried to work on the mood that vessels will be returning after discharging simultaneously, which would result in tonnage oversupply. However, that did not happen, and vessels with dates for the next week have been fixed, leaving some of the cargo open, which stopped the market from falling.
There is still a high demand for tonnage from the river, for transit voyages through the Volga-Don Canal, as well as for cabotage voyages by the inland waterways and Kavkaz roads transshipment.
Perhaps, the low activity of traders due to the Muslim holidays will negatively affect the demand for Russian-flagged vessels for cabotage voyages. However, the increased demand for Russian grain with delivery to long-distance destinations and shipment from deep-water Black Sea ports (to Jordan, Pakistan, Morocco, etc.), will not leave room for volatility in the domestic freight market, so no reduction in rates is expected in the near future.
Market insiders anticipated that Turkish buyers would start actively buying Russian grain after the Eid al-Adha celebrations; this should have put the freight market in motion. However, due to the fall of the Turkish lira, all purchases were suspended, which led the market to stagnation; the rates remained at the same level.
Buyers think that due to the high grain harvest this year, producers will soon begin to reduce prices; this should result in a market growth. In the meantime, owners are trying to keep their fleet on a short leg, so as not to miss the rise in rates.
The situation with shipments from Ukraine is quite different. The coaster market there froze last week, and the vessels remained open for a long time. To this date, the rate on the Berdyansk to Egypt basis is about $16-18 for a ton of wheat, with a parcel of 5-10 thousand tons.
In August, there will be long weekends in European grain importing countries, so traders’ activity should be expected only for high-margin contracts. Most definitely, the rates for wheat shipments of 5-10 thousand tons parcels from Ukraine to the Adriatic and the Central Mediterranean will remain at about the same level, and the upper limit of $20 is unlikely to be reached. On the other hand, a decrease is not expected either, but the market will rather be on the side of charterers.
According to Glogos Project, on week 32, freight rates for 3,000-5,000 dwt vessels for wheat parcels to the Sea of Marmara made $18 pmt from Rostov and Azov, $17 pmt from Yeisk and Taganrog, and $15 from Temryuk.
Freight rates for coal to the Sea of Marmara made $17 pmt from Rostov and Azov, $16 pmt from Yeisk and Taganrog, and $14 from Temryuk.
The rates for transportation by the inland waterways to the ports of Azov and Astrakhan increased significantly. While at the start of the navigation season the rate for a ton of barley on Chistopol to Astrakhan basis was about $12, now it can reach $24 per ton in same direction.
Freight rates for 3,000 dwt vessels for barley to Iran made $19 pmt from Astrakhan, $15 from Aktau and $16 pmt from Makhachkala.
Please note that the rates cited in this article are average market rates. We ask our readers to pay attention that this information is not a commercial offer and cannot be an example for comparison in commercial disputes and arbitration.