Fixture Notes;

Ahoy There!
For those who follow the dry bulk fixtures; read on if you care.

We have noticed a couple of interesting developments unfold during the week. First and foremost, the volume (amount) of iron ore fixtures inked in the week is 29 compared to the 4 week average of 14.5. This is a 102% improvement and also brings us to another point. Without exact statistics we remind DB readers we hope for at least 30 ore fixtures per week when the market is functioning normally. This week’s reported 29 fixtures could be considered on target because two of the vessels employed are actually VLOC class bulkers combining to haul 464,000 DWT of ore. The two super sized vessels are going to carry ~ four 120K capesize loads skewing the fixture totals. Here at Dry Bits we have decided to begin considering VLOC separate from the Capes, and anticipate the need to revisit our fixture volume analysis. We could possibly use dwt but for a part time guy this brings up a heavy analytical workload. At the end of the day is it really is more important.. not sure yet.

The weather has helped some irregular fixing this week as witnessed by the large amounts of coal taken from US > Brazil unloading @ the PRAIA MOLE. We do not normally report much US coal heading due south, but the heavy rains in Brazil must have tightened local supplies. Speaking of South America, the weeks fixture reports indicate Vale was completely absent from the charter market.

All in all the fixtures this week are at the most robust levels seen in a while, and that is very good news.

Good Fortunes
Ski