Freight rates for the benchmark Asian route hit an eight-month high this week, when demand for spot cargoes rose as traders were expected to start sourcing their shipping requirements for the grain export season.
Spot charter rates for modern panamax tonnages on the benchmark US Gulf-Japan route were pegged around $42 per tonne on Tuesday, up about $4 from levels seen on July 18, and $1 higher from Monday's Baltic Exchange.
"As the August loading programme comes to a close, traders are looking at securing tonnage for September, which is the start of the grain export season," said a Tokyo-based shipbroker.
In July, shipowners were diverting their attention to smaller and cheaper handymax-sized vessels as an alternative to their regular spot panamax charters, shipbrokers said.
Panamax vessels normally carry between 55,000 tonnes and 80,000 tonnes of cargo such as grains and coal.
North Asian shipbrokers said charterers were keen to book handymax vessels because of high availability in the US Gulf Coast.
"The traders are shuttling between the handymax and the panamax vessels at the moment because the rates now are so close to each other, but I believe we will see Panamax rates start to take off as we get deeper into August," said a Singapore-based shipbroker.
Handymax spot charter rates on the benchmark US Gulf-Japan route were around $40 a tonne on Tuesday, up about $2 from levels seen July 18.
Handymax vessels carry between 40,000 tonnes and 60,000 tonnes of major and minor bulk commodities including cement, which is shipped into the United States from China, Taiwan and Thailand.
Demand for raw commodities like steel and cement in the United States remain strong, particularly in the Gulf Coast where there are still massive reconstruction projects after the devastating hurricane season last year.
And brokers expect vessel runs on this route to remain active, at least into the end of the fourth-quarter.
"A lot will depend on what happens during this hurricane season. If we get another Katrina, then this route is likely to become an active run for not just the handymax, but the panamax as well," said a Tokyo-based shipowner.
Time-charter rates for the US Gulf-Japan route for handymax vessels were pegged around $25,000, little changed from week-ago levels, while the panamax was seen valued around $26,000, about $4000 higher than levels seen on July 18.