The Baltic Dry Index, a measure of commodity-shipping costs, fell for a third consecutive session as fleet expansion pulled down rates to hire bigger iron-ore carriers, even as steel prices rise.
The gauge declined 25 points, or 1.2 percent, to 2,145 points, according to the London-based Baltic Exchange. That was the lowest level since Aug. 9. Rents to hire iron ore-hauling capesize ships retreated 4.6 percent to $29,333 a day, for a 16 percent slide in the vessels’ four-day run of losses. All other ship classes advanced.
“Despite an improved steel-price backdrop, the dry-bulk market has been unable to participate on the back of increased vessel deliveries,” Omar M. Nokta, head of research at Dahlman Rose & Co. in New York, wrote in a note e-mailed today.
Trade in iron ore, a steelmaking ingredient, will increase 6.1 percent this year, while the capesize fleet will expand 24 percent, according to estimates by Clarkson Plc, the world’s biggest shipbroker. Dry-bulk shipping rates rose to a record in 2008 before collapsing 92 percent for the whole year, making ships ordered at the height of the market surplus to requirements.
More iron ore is carried at sea than any other dry-bulk good, according to Clarkson data, and the material is the primary cargo for capesizes.
Chinese prices of 25 millimeter (1-inch) rebar, steel used to reinforce concrete, have risen 7.2 percent this month, data from Antaike Information Development Co. show. Rebar prices suggest that for capesizes, the “rate downside should remain limited in the near-term,” Nokta said.
Increased Margins
The Shanghai Futures Exchange will increase margins and daily price limits in a move to curb speculation and cool inflation. Margins on materials including steel wire will rise to 10 percent, the bourse said last week, and to 12 percent for steel-reinforcing bars and zinc after the market closes today.
China, the world’s biggest steel producer, boosted its output to 1.607 million metric tons a day on average from Nov. 11 to 20, compared with 1.6 million tons a day during the first 10 days of this month, the researcher UC361.com said, citing the China Iron and Steel Association.
Rates for panamaxes that compete with capesizes for cargoes rose 1 percent today to a daily $18,911. Supramaxes gained 1.8 percent to $15,813 a day. Handysizes added 0.6 percent to $11,562.
Capesizes are so-called because they are too big to fit through the Panama Canal and must instead sail around South America’s Cape Horn or South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope.
The gauge declined 25 points, or 1.2 percent, to 2,145 points, according to the London-based Baltic Exchange. That was the lowest level since Aug. 9. Rents to hire iron ore-hauling capesize ships retreated 4.6 percent to $29,333 a day, for a 16 percent slide in the vessels’ four-day run of losses. All other ship classes advanced.
“Despite an improved steel-price backdrop, the dry-bulk market has been unable to participate on the back of increased vessel deliveries,” Omar M. Nokta, head of research at Dahlman Rose & Co. in New York, wrote in a note e-mailed today.
Trade in iron ore, a steelmaking ingredient, will increase 6.1 percent this year, while the capesize fleet will expand 24 percent, according to estimates by Clarkson Plc, the world’s biggest shipbroker. Dry-bulk shipping rates rose to a record in 2008 before collapsing 92 percent for the whole year, making ships ordered at the height of the market surplus to requirements.
More iron ore is carried at sea than any other dry-bulk good, according to Clarkson data, and the material is the primary cargo for capesizes.
Chinese prices of 25 millimeter (1-inch) rebar, steel used to reinforce concrete, have risen 7.2 percent this month, data from Antaike Information Development Co. show. Rebar prices suggest that for capesizes, the “rate downside should remain limited in the near-term,” Nokta said.
Increased Margins
The Shanghai Futures Exchange will increase margins and daily price limits in a move to curb speculation and cool inflation. Margins on materials including steel wire will rise to 10 percent, the bourse said last week, and to 12 percent for steel-reinforcing bars and zinc after the market closes today.
China, the world’s biggest steel producer, boosted its output to 1.607 million metric tons a day on average from Nov. 11 to 20, compared with 1.6 million tons a day during the first 10 days of this month, the researcher UC361.com said, citing the China Iron and Steel Association.
Rates for panamaxes that compete with capesizes for cargoes rose 1 percent today to a daily $18,911. Supramaxes gained 1.8 percent to $15,813 a day. Handysizes added 0.6 percent to $11,562.
Capesizes are so-called because they are too big to fit through the Panama Canal and must instead sail around South America’s Cape Horn or South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope.