London: The Baltic Dry Index (BDI) closed on August 14 around 35% down from this year's high of 4291 on June 3. The BDI went below 3000 to close at 2685 on Friday, after being through a troublesome week.
Nevertheless, brokers in Asia are confident that the boot is on the capesize owner's foot this week, with charterers likely to have missed their window for cheap deals, as available capesize hulls dwindle. While spot rates hovered around $46,000 at the end of last week, a firm line by owners this week should see the $50,000 mark broached, brokers suggested. A recent deal for a 176,000 dwt fixed for one year at a healthy $35,000 a day lends credence to the boiling capesize spot market.
The rally might well be brief though as indications from China suggest the iron ore import bull run is unlikely to last.
So far this year, China has imported nearly 355 million tonnes of iron ore, compared with 440 million tonnes for the whole of 2008. [17/08/09]
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