ATHENS: The capesize market has advanced each consecutive trading day since June 11, with the Baltic Cape Index growing by 810 points then to 1,393 points today.
“The last two weeks have seen an increased number of Brazilian iron ore cargoes come to the market and that’s primarily what is driving these rates,” Jeffrey Landsberg, managing director of New York-based Commodore Research & Consultancy, told Splash today.
“The capesize market is sensitive to changes in Brazilian export cargoes because it’s an Atlantic basin cargo. There have been less vessels available in the Atlantic rather than in the Pacific, and this is when cape rates find support.”
Brazilian cargoes are also a blessing in terms of tonne/mile earnings – the distance from Brazil to China is three times longer than the distance there from Australia.