Brazil may ship more iron ore at the expense of Australia, supporting rates for capesize ships because they will make longer journeys, Lorentzen & Stemoco AS said.
China’s detention of Australian national Stern Hu and three Rio Tinto Group colleagues last month “strained relations between China and Australia,” Nicolai Hansteen, an Oslo-based analyst with shipping consultant Lorentzen & Stemoco, wrote in a note dated today. “This could eventually benefit Brazilian iron-ore exports, hence more ton-miles for capesize vessels.”
Australia was the source of 43 percent of China’s iron-ore imports in June and Brazil, home to Vale SA, the biggest producer and exporter, 22 percent, according to China’s customs data. China is the biggest consumer of the material used to make steel. Rio is the second-largest iron ore exporter.
A ton mile takes into account the distance that ships travel to deliver their cargoes. Rates to hire the vessels that typically haul iron ore have dropped 46 percent this quarter to $43,706 a day. They are called capesizes because they are too large to sail through the Panama Canal and must travel around South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope or Chile’s Cape Horn.
Iron ore shipments between Brazil and China create the biggest source of demand for dry-bulk shipping based on the amount of cargo being shipped multiplied by voyage length, according to London-based SSY Research & Consultancy Ltd.
Source: Bloomberg
No comments:
Post a Comment