Freight costs in the Black Sea on short routes are decreasing due to cargo shortage

Against the backdrop of weak market activity, shipowners do not see positive dynamics, and rates on short routes are showing a decline.

As of mid-April, the situation on the Black Sea freight market remains difficult: no significant changes have been recorded for shipowners yet, reported Pavlo Lysenko, an analyst at ASAP Agri and a broker at Atria Brokers.

The “handysize” segment is holding its position — rates for transporting 30,000 consignments of corn from deep-sea ports of Ukraine to the eastern coast of Italy remain at $16–17 per ton.

On the other hand, in the “burner” segment, there is a certain decrease in rates on short routes, due to a decrease in cargo volumes. In particular, the transportation of a 6,000 consignment of corn from the Danube ports of Ukraine to Italy costs $29–31 per ton — $1 less than before.

At the same time, some growth was recorded in the Panamax segment. According to Atria Brokers, corn freight from Ukrainian ports to South China has increased to $34-35 per ton, which is $1 more than a week ago.

Barge freight on the Izmail/Reni – Constanta route remains at minimal levels: 8-9 euros per ton for small corn consignments of 1,000-3,000 tons.

USM recently reported on the resumption of ferry services between Ukraine and Georgia.