River-sea coaster markets continued to move upward. On the Azov-Marmara route, 3,000 tonnes of wheat cargo quotes increased to $20-21/tonne, up from last week's $18-19/tonne, while on the Rostov-Marmara route, freight ideas increased to $22-23/tonne from $20-21/tonne. Finally, freight ideas on the Rostov-Mersin route increased to around $35-36/tonne from around $32-33/tonne last week.

In conventional coaster market reports, Novorossiysk-Marmara 5,000 tonnes of steel fixtures have still been reported around $17-18/tonne and 5,000 tonnes of wheat fixtures were reported around $18-19/tonne. Since there is no update in terms of actual market information, it can be assumed that fixtures are still hovering at $15/tonne on these routes.

Freight rates may have increased from 18-19 USD/tonne to 20 USD/tonne for around 5,000 tonne cargoes ex-Izmail to Marmara. Freight rates ex-Odessa and Chornomorsk to Izmir fetched $18/tonne and from the same loading ports to Egypt at $24/tonne. Again, there seems to be an increase of 1 dollar/tonne compared to last week.

In terms of larger tonnage, the Baltic Dry Index (BDI) ended its three-week losing streak with a sharp rise. The index jumped from 1,439 points to 1,663 points. Capesize and Panamax rose suddenly, Supramax continued to rise in pursuit and provided support to the index which recovered quickly.

Moving on with the Baltic Supramax Index (BSI), the index rose to 1,219 points from 1,081 points last week. The segment's revenues also increased from $13,668/day to $15,408/day.

Daily revenues for Supramax vessels fixed from the Black Sea to the Far East increased from $12,913/day to $14,850/day this week. From the Gulf of Mexico to the Far East, revenues skyrocketed from $20,443/day to $25,085/day, repeating the pace of previous week. Far East averages also rose, with revenues increasing from $12,517/day last week to $13,955/day.

The Baltic Handysize Index (BHSI) registered a slight increase. The index rose from 633 points to 645 points. Average Handysize revenues also increased from $11,390/day to $11,604/day.

Handysize revenues in the Black Sea and Mediterranean remained stable this week after last week's decline. Revenues remained at last week's level of 6,500-7,000 USD/day. On the Black Sea-Continent route, $7,000-7,500/day could be mentioned. On the Far East routes, the $10,000/day level was maintained.

For the South America-Continent route, revenues increased to $17,800/day from $17,667/day last week. Far East averages were also up, with averages rising from $10,996/day to $11,396/day.

As always, we end the week by putting sales in the spotlight...

In this week's only Ultramax sale, 2019 Japanese-built 64K DWT “Mona Lisa” was sold for $28.5 million. Last week, 2017 Japanese-built 60K DWT “IVS Swinley Forest” was sold for $23.5 million, and considering the difference in DWT, the numbers seem to be proportional.

When we look at the Supramax sales, this week there were predominantly Chinese sales. 2014 Chinese built “Medi Manila” was sold for 17.7 million dollars, which we think is a high price...Because the ship was built in Tsuneishi Zhoushan shipyard, shall we say priced between Japanese and Chinese units.

Apart from that, 2011 STX Dalian-built “Juniper” 57K DWT for $12.5 million and 2011-built “SFL Kate” probably changed hands for $11.5 million. We say "probably" because this ship and its 2012-built sister "SFL Humber" were sold as a block for 24 million dollars. We can say that the 2012-built one was sold for 12.5 million dollars. Moreover, the 2011 COSCO Zhoushan-built “Pan Rapido” also went for $11.4 million.

As a more modern Supramax, the 2016 Philippines (TESS Cebu) built “Tenro Maru” was sold for around 21.5-22 million dollars.

In handysize sales, 2020 Japanese-built 37K DWT “Deneb Harmony” went for $24.5 million. The 2013 Japanese-built 33K DWT “Rijn Confidence” was sold for $14.3 million. Last week, the 2012 Japanese-built 32K DWT “Canny Caroline” was sold for $12.5 million. Again, a sale that seems to be proportionate but signals a slight increase.

No coaster sale was heard this week either

Wishing you a great week ahead