According to Pavel Lysenko, analyst with ASAP Agri and freight broker with Atria Brokers, in the first decade of October, charterers continue to face an acute shortage of coaster tonnage, particularly in the 7,000–11,000/12,000 DWT range. The limited choice of vessels allows coaster owners to dictate terms firmly, with fixing freight levels remaining all over the place. Meanwhile, bullish sentiment among Handysize owners has faded, and charterers are gaining firmer ground during negotiations as more vessels open for October dates with cargo flow remains moderately steady. The Panamax segment also shows a bearish trend, with rates corrected down by 1 USD/MT w-o-w.

 Thus, as per Atria Brokers’ freight department, Panamax freight for corn shipments from Ukrainian deep-water ports to South China has been corrected by 1 USD/MT down to 46–47 USD/MT.  

In the Handysize segment, freight for a 30,000t corn shipment to East Coast Italy stands at 24–25 USD/MT (-1 USD/MT).  

In the Coaster segment, freight for a 6,000t corn shipment from Ukrainian Danube ports to East Coast Italian ports remains stable at 35–37 USD/MT. 

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