Bulk freight rates for major Asian routes eased 3 percent from the previous week but were expected to bounce again, as a new storm threatened to disrupt export operations at Australia's Newcastle port.
The port, which was shut down about two weeks ago due to bad weather, on Monday resumed some operations at the terminal, Australia's largest coal export facility. Earlier on Tuesday, port officials said they were expecting strong winds and heavy seas overnight as a storm, with winds of up to 55 knots, was forecast to hit the area later in the day.
Period charter rates for modern panamax tonnages booked on trans-Pacific voyages were valued at $40,000-$42,000, up about 5 percent from physical spot tonnage offers on Monday. July Freight Forward Agreements (FFAs) for panamax vessels plying the trans-Pacific route (P3A_03) were valued at $42,000-$44,000.
"If this storm is anything like the last one that hit the port two weeks ago, then we could see delays there as high as two months," a Singapore-based shipbroker said. A total of about 69 ships were waiting to load at the port, but have since been instructed to move out to sea because of the weather, port officials said earlier.
Newcastle, the world's largest coal port, exports thermal coal to Asian power stations in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and elsewhere. It was closed down when heavy seas and torrential rain struck on June 8. The turbulent weather damaged railway lines critical to coal supply flows to the port, triggering a sharp spike in thermal coal prices.
Rail transport operations were expected to get back to normal by the end of the week, but the new storm was expected to put that back. "You can have a fully functional port, but if you have no stocks at the terminal, how are you going to load the ships waiting in queue?" a Singapore-based shipowner said.
Comments
Comments are closed.