Black Sea freight is becoming more stratified: “handy sizes” are growing, rates on “coasters” are being held back by free tonnage

Handysize rates rise as supramax segment strengthens, while costers remain flat due to excess spare tonnage.

Handysize rates continue to rise, while coster freight remains at previous levels, ASAP Agri analysts report.

As of July 3, coster freight from the Danube to the Eastern Mediterranean was around $38-39/MT, while Black Sea ports to the ECI was around $24/MT.

Trading activity in the Black Sea has improved recently, but the number of firm cargo offers is still insufficient to significantly support the market.

Despite shipowners’ attempts to reverse the trend, rates in the coster segment remain largely unchanged, and the choice of spare tonnage in the region significantly exceeds cargo supply.

Instead, “handy sizes” are becoming more expensive. Shipowners maintain upward expectations and voice higher price targets, and additional confidence is given to them by the strengthening of the adjacent, larger Supramax segment.

Also, as USM wrote, the shares of most Ukrainian agricultural holdings increased in a week.