freight decrease offsets io price decline

Some unexpected good news.
A new report published today has revealed some good news for exporters using Cape sized vessels which BCI has used of late.

? "The Capesize freight market has nosedived since the start of this year, with time charter rates falling from $38,999/day to $13,611/day as of Monday – a drop of 65%. The two major iron ore routes, Brazil-China and Australia-China, have dropped by 35% and 45%, respectively, and are now just $19.7/t and $7.1/t. With freight essentially being a cost to iron ore miners, this has offset the fall in the CFR spot price thus far in 2014 – indeed implied FOB Australia prices are actually up $5/t from end-December levels. An end-4Q or early-1Q drop in freight is in line with seasonal trends, given that Brazilian and Australian iron ore export volumes tend to fall sequentially. However, the dynamic this year has further been exacerbated by non-shipment of coal from Colombia’s second-largest producer, Drummond, which looks like it will be unable to export until 2Q, which removes around 6.5mt of cargo from the market. "