A sharp decline in freight rates in January indicates a drop in demand for grain

In January 2022, the freight situation for all bulk carrier sizes deteriorated sharply. This was stated in an exclusive interview for APK-Inform by freight columnist, candidate of Economic Sciences Valery Voynichenko.

According to the expert, the Baltic freight tonnage index (BFI) decreased by 38% in January from 2,285 points to 1,418 points. The average value of the BFI in January was 1,761 points, which is 1,000 points lower than in December 2021 and only 100 points higher than in January 2021.

Most of all, as always, in January, the BFI decreased for capsize bulk carriers – almost twice from 2350 to 1208 points, and at the peak of the fall in the third decade of January, the BFI fell to 702 points, which was not observed in January 2020. the average earnings of capsize in January 2022 were in the range of 5 5800-19500/day, that is, it had a three-fold range of fluctuations.

Throughout January, the average earnings of capsizes, oddly enough, were significantly lower than those of bulk carriers of other categories. So, as of the end of January, the average earnings of capesays were 40% lower than those of kamwarmaks and 80% lower than those of handysays, although the deadweight of the latter is four times less, " the expert said.