On the 50th week, freight rates in the Azov-Black Sea region note a rather sharp drop. Thus, the cost of shipment 3,000 tons of wheat from Azov to the Marmara Sea ports fell to the level of USD 53 pmt.
Mainly this situation is caused by the incessant fall of the Turkish national currency during the last week, that according to experts is unlikely to recover in the foreseeable future. In these conditions charterers prefer to work other destinations, such as Greece, Cyprus or Italy, but it is worth noting that concluding contracts to these countries is also quite difficult. Freight rates for long destinations are also actively falling, although many shipowners are in no hurry to accept the available offers from charterers.
In addition, this week it was reported that the size of the quota for wheat exports, introduced from February 2022, may amount to 8 million tons. It should also be said that some charterers note problems with rail deliveries of goods to the ports of the Azov-Black Sea basin, as a result of which pre-sale contracts are disrupted.
In the Caspian Sea, the freight rates remain the same as per last week. Open vessels’ positions appear periodically, but it does not makes prices lower, since the shipowners continue to work COA voyages. Thus, the cost from Astrakhan to Iran remains at the level of USD 46 pmt.
In the Baltic region, the amount of available tonnage remains at a low level, the cost of freight does not change. The amount of cargo is still low.
Vessels with a tonnage from 8,000 to 12,000 mt often enter the Northern part of the Baltic, however, most companies have difficulties in forming such a batch volume and they prefer to send no more than 3,000 tons, for which it is much more difficult to find a suitable fleet.