Tight avails of tonnage in the Black Sea river-sea coaster market pushed freight rates sharply upward this week. Freight rates for 3,000-tonne wheat cargoes on the Azov-Marmara route rose from $41-42/tonne to $44-45/tonne. On the Rostov-Marmara route, freight rates quickly rose from $43-44/tonne to $46-47/tonne. Finally, for Rostov-Mersin fixtures, freight rates rose from $61-62/tonne last week to $66-67/tonne.

In conventional coaster markets, freight rates from Novorossiysk remained unchanged, if any cargoes could be found. Freight rates for 5,000 tonnes of steel on the Novorossiysk-Marmara route continued at around $17-18/tonne, while freight rates for 5,000 tonnes of wheat remained at around $18-19/tonne.

Freight rates for 6,000 tonnes of grain shipments from Reni and Izmail to Marmara remained at last week's level of $21/tonne.

The Baltic Dry Index (BDI) for large tonnage continued to rise, climbing from 2,203 points to 2,259 points. Capesize continued to rise, while Panamax and Supramax tonnage saw declines.

The Baltic Supramax Index (BSI) corrected again, falling from 1,489 points to 1,479 points. Average revenues also declined from $18,822 per day to $18,698 per day.

Looking at the routes, freights on the Black Sea-Far East route rose from $20,842/day to $20,900/day. Yields on fixtures from the Gulf of Mexico to the Far East also adjusted from $31,150/day to $31,786/day. Far East averages also fell this week, dropping from $16,256/day to $15,850/day.

The Baltic Handysize Index (BHSI) rose from 815 points to 841. Average revenues also increased from $14,671 per day to $15,130 per day.

Handysize rates for the Black Sea, Mediterranean, and Continent routes rose again from last week's $11,500/day to $12,500/day. In the Far East, daily rates rose from around $13,000/day to $14,000/day.

Revenues on the South America-Continent route continued their upward trend this week, rising from $22,611 per day last week to $23,256 per day. Average revenues in the Far East markets increased this week from $13,088 per day to $13,163 per day.

It was a week with good sales, so let's talk about them and close this week.

This week, the Japanese-built 2011 and 2012 Ultramax vessels “Explorer Europe” and “Ultra Colonsay” were sold for $18 million each.

A slightly younger vessel, the 2014 Japanese-built 67K DWT “African Cheetah,” sold for $24.5 million. The ship also had a flue gas cleaning system (scrubber).

Another Ultramax, the 2015 Japanese-built 66K DWT “Bulk Castor,” was sold for $24 million. Last week, the 63K DWT “DSI Drammen” with a scrubber installed was sold for $25 million. Also Japanese-built but much more modern, the 64K Ultramaxes “CMB Van Dijk” (2020) and “CBM Matsys” (2021) were sold as a block for $65 million.

As for Chinese construction, the 2020-built “Elizabeth M II” was sold for $30 million.

Looking at Supramax sales, the 2013 Japanese-built 50K “Queen Flower” went for $16.2 million. The 2011 Chinese-built 57K DWT “Ocean Knight” sold for $12.2 million. The 20-year-old 53K DWT “Spar Taurus” also changed hands for $8.8 million.

Handysize sales were relatively quiet. In the 33K DWT segment, the 2010 and 2011 Chinese-built “CH Bella” and “CH Doris” sold for $8.25 million. Another Handysize vessel, the 2011 Chinese-built “T Symphony,” sold for $8.5 million.

No coaster sales were reported.

We bid you a great week ahead…