In the 34th week, the freight market in the Russian Azov-Black Sea region continues to face difficulties. The number of shipments is minimal, and it is extremely difficult for charterers to find ways to export cargo profitably. The most active region for grain exports at the moment is the Caspian region, where freight rates have been actively increasing for several weeks in a row.
The export duty on wheat from Russia will increase by more than two times from August 19, reaching RUB 721.1 per tonne. The export duty on barley will remain at zero, while the duty on corn will increase to RUB 284 from per tonne.
In the Baltic region, the past week brought no significant changes. Low activity is observed in the coaster freight market – there are a small number of enquiries for 3–5k tonnes of grain from the Baltic countries for late August-early September. Freight rates remained at the same level or decreased slightly.