On the 48 week freight rates in Azov-Black sea region have gained a few points. For example, freight rate for 3000 MT of wheat from Azov to Marmara will be around 25 USD per metric ton. Moreover, the market is getting more and more stable as new cargoes are appearing on the market day by day. Charterers starts to actively ship corn and rice, and we can also trace a bunch of new wheat contracts for Turkish buyers. At the same time, there are some difficulties in shipping sun flour seeds, as there is not clarity with phytosanitary certificate. A lot of Charterers are waiting with hope, that this situation will be defined soon and they will be able to continue shipping their planned volumes.
Additionally, we can note, that some of the Charterers are already discussing January shipments for their new sales contracts. Plus, because of quota for grain, we can forecast freight rates increase for Azov and Black sea.
As for Black see, there are a lot of 10-15k wheat shipments from Ukraine and Romania to Spain and North Africa countries. However, this did not really affected freight rates as there are a lot of vessels with this size. For example, fright rate for 10 000 mt of wheat from Constanta to Libya will be around 17-18 USD pmt. As per deep sea. There are a lot of December Panamax shipments for coal and wheat, going to India or China.
In the Baltic sea region at 48th week, there is an activity of SPOT shipments, especially fertilizers, grains and scrap cargoes, however owners are more inclined to carry grain, even despite worsening weather. Regarding loading range, there is observed an increase of shipments from the southern Baltic ports, particularly Klaipeda. However, considering that majority of vessels are tied with long-term contracts, finding a vessel in positions SPOT/PROMT has become rather complicated. According to high demand, rates continue to rise: for most destinations, freight per PMT has increased by 1-2 EUR compared to the previous week. Also, talking about December shipments, winter taxes are starting to operate in ports, what raises the rates even more.
As per deep sea, there is also a tendency for Spot/Promt shipments for handy vessels, mostly for grain, scrap and coal. Usually, those are going to Spain or Portugal. Furthermore, there are also a lot of 30k vessels opening in Baltic sea next week, which can play a role in freight rates decrease if there will be not enough cargoes.