On the 23th week the freight market and its participants are waiting for new grain season beginning so the current market activity is still very low. On the Azov sea market there are small number of grain shipments, in particular bran, which, due to the large number of spot tonnage can be fixed at fairly low freight rates. The price for shipment of 3000 mts cargo from Azov to Marmara sea ports has dropped to USD 13-14 PMT.
On the Caspian freight market, the freight rates are also decreasing and the shipment of 3000 mts of corn from Astrakhan to NIP will cost about USD 21 PMT. In most Iranian ports there still a congestion of vessels and a lot of shipowners are forced to wait for discharging for several days. One of important news in Caspian region is Kazakhstan export quota cancellation, which may slightly, but still have a positive effect on the freight market.
The situation on the deep sea market is also unchanged. A large number of open spot vessels maintains a low level of freight rates, and the number of cargoes has not increased by 23rd week. A small flow of goods is observed in the Black Sea region, as well as more actively sending coal in the Far East. There is also a small flow of fertilizers to the Persian Gulf countries. Freight rates from Novorossiysk to Mediterranean ports for the shipment of goods 30k mts of goods fell to the level of 9-10 dollars per metric ton.