Panamax dry bulk rates held just below record-highs this week, supported by robust Chinese demand for minerals and grains. Modern panamax rates for the benchmark US Gulf to Japan route were quoted on Tuesday at $70-$75 a tonne for late December delivery, holding steady from a week ago. Demand in the week before Christmas would be a key factor in determining the next direction of the market, brokers said. If freight rates rose, they were likely to push through to a new record-high above the $75-$80 per tonne seen in February.
But charterers have stuck to the sidelines in markets for panamax-size ships carrying about 55,000 tonnes in the past week, with some splitting their grain shipments into handymax cargoes carrying about 25,000 tonnes.
Ship owners are forecasting bullish forward and tight capsize markets, he said.
Rates for panamax vessels have risen in recent weeks as demand shifted from the capesize market, where tight supplies and China's robust appetite for iron ore and coal had inflated rates.
Capesize vessels carry more than 100,000 tonnes of cargo predominantly for iron ore and coal.
Rates could hit a record high before business winds down for the Christmas and New Year holidays, an official at a Japanese shipping company said.