Only Danube grain still regularly shipped on Black Sea coaster market

With plenty of vessels open for 2H May and grain being the only regularly shipped cargo in Black Sea, charterers are confidently keeping coaster freight rates at recently reduced levels. Moreover, ship owners desperately resist further rate declines:

• Thus, several deals for transportation of 5-6,000 t of wheat from Reni to Marmara have been signed at $38-39/t (which hardly reaches even $3.5k daily in TCE bss RV given 6-7 days of waiting time and AWRP on owner’s acct);
• 3,000 t of wheat are carried from Reni to Marmara at $41/t, which gives the TCE of around $2k daily bss RV;
• A couple of deals for shipment of 5-6,000 t of wheat from Reni or Izmail to Egypt have been signed slightly above $50/t bss 1/1 given 6-7 days of waiting time and AWRP on owner’s acct (equivalent to $4.2-4.3k daily bss RV), although most owners are seeking to get at least $52-53/t;
• Charterers offer $48/t for transportation of 6,000 t of wheat from Izmail to Iskenderun or Mersin with 1,500 sshex l/d rates and 20 May onwards laycans (equivalent to $3.9-4k daily bss RV);
• Other traders are ready to pay $52-53/t for shipment of 6-7,000 t of soybeans (sf 50`) from Izmail to Egypt with 1,000x/1,500x l/d rates, 5 days of waiting time and AWRP on owner’s acct, which is equivalent to $4.3-4.4k daily bss RV;
• 3,000 t of wheat are offered for transportation from Izmail to Israel at $57/t, while owners are seeking to get closer to $60/t;
• Meanwhile, some charterers target $52-53/t for shipment of 6,000 t of wheat from Izmail to Israel with 1,200 sshex bends l/d rates;
• Also, charterers offer low-mid $30s/t for transportation of 1,500 t of ferroalloys from Izmail to Marmara.

As for westward voyages ex Danube:

• The deal for transportation of 6,000 t of wheat from Reni or Izmail to SpanMed has been signed at $67/t, while other charterers are ready to pay low $60s/t for shipment of 8-10,000 t of grain on the same route;
• Meanwhile, some traders are ready to pay much stronger $75/t for transportation of 5,000 t of corn from Reni to Valencia (equivalent to $4.5-4.6k daily bss RV even with very low l/d rates of 1,000 sshex bends);
• Other charterers are ready to pay at best $55/t for shipment of 5,000 t of barley (sf 53`) from Izmail to Lybia with 1,500 sshex bends l/d rates and low $50s/t for transportation of up to 6,000 t of corn (sf 51`) from Reni to Bari with same l/d rates (equivalent to $3.8-3.9k daily and $4.4-4.5k daily bss RV, respectively);
• The deal for shipment of up to 6,600 t of sf meal (sf 65`) from Reni to Ravenna is discussed at $65-66/t with 1,500 sshex bends l/d rates and 20-25 May laycans;
• Besides, charterers offer $72-73 for transportation of 9-10,000 t of agri products (sf 56-58`) from Izmail to the UK with 2,000 sshex bends l/d rates.

Shipments from EU and Russian ports remain extremely dull:

• The deal for transportation of 6-7,000 t of wheat from Constanta to Alexandria is discussed at $29/t, which is equivalent to $4.5-4.8k daily bss RV;
• Brokers suggest mid-$50s/t for shipment of 6,000 t of agri products (sf 55`) from Constanta to Liverpool with 2,000 sshex bends l/d rates and June laycans;
• 5,000 t of steel billets are carried from Novorossiysk to Marmara at $19/t, while other charterers have reportedly agreed to pay even more than $20/t for a similar biz;
• The deal for transportation of 6,000 t of steels from Novo to Algeria has been signed at $44/t, which is equivalent to $4.6-4.7k daily for vessels with no AWRP required or well below $3.5k daily with AWRP on owner’s acct;
• Brokers suggest low $30s/t for shipment of 5-6,000 t of wheat from Novorossiysk to Egypt;
• However, charterers are ready to pay mere $22/t for shipment of 3,000 t of wheat from Kavkaz to Marmara;
• 8,000 t of bagged soda have been carried from Varna to Algeria at high $40s/t given 10 ttl days sshex l/d rates, which is equivalent to quite strong $7.5k daily bss RV;
• Owners of a 4k dwcc vessel are seeking to get $150k bss lumpsum for shipment of minerals or metallurgical cargoes from Bulgaria to Antalya given 6 ttl days sshex l/d rates, although charterers will hardly pay more than $130k bss lumpsum.