Braemars Seascope: Container market commentary

According to Braemars Seascope, this week has been a busier week in the market, buoyed a little by news that some of Lines are reporting improved cargo volumes again together with rumours that certain large operators have now once again dipped into the recently inactive larger sizes taking vessels for long periods. Operators it seems are now
being tempted by the very attractive hire levels on offer and forcing owners to lock in these low levels for a longer duration, ever closer to their operating costs.
Otherwise the feeder market remains active both in the Pacific and the Atlantic with a number of feeder requirements floating around, but in the main these are for round-voyage or short period requirements along with Charterers options, now the norm in this sector. In tandem with the short periods on offer the ever increasing pool of tonnage is causing the rates to be further eroded and with the lower fixtures now being recorded on the larger sizes meaning a steady compression of the Charter rates across the different sizes.

Source: Transportweekly