Ships idle in Ukrainian ports due to seasonal pause

The grain shipping market is quiet: exporter activity has decreased, but freight rates remain unchanged.

Grain exports from Ukrainian ports have slowed, which has led to an increase in free tonnage. Market participants report an increase in vessel downtime due to a lack of new contracts, Spike Brokers writes.

The reason for this dynamics is the seasonal decline in activity and the end of the marketing year. However, despite low demand, freight rates for “handy sizes” and “costers” remain stable.

The market is cautiously optimistic about the start of the new grain season, which could potentially revive demand for transportation and stimulate rate growth.

Market freight rates are:

• Izmail – Romania (1-3 thousand tons): 8-9 euros;

• Izmail – eastern coast of Italy (5-7 thousand tons): 29-30 dollars;

• Chornomorsk – eastern coast of Italy (30-35 thousand tons): 16-17 dollars;

• Chornomorsk – eastern coast of Spain (25-30 thousand tons): 17-19 dollars.

The day before, USM reported that since the beginning of the year, more than 22 million tons of cargo have been transported by rail to ports.