REDUCED cargo volumes from China and weakening western consumer market demand are reducing activity on the charter market, reports London's Loadstar.
"Hire rates for the small sizes are falling and that will eventually filter through to the bigger ships," said a broker, who like others, fears a correction with enquiries for open tonnage "down to a trickle".
"A couple of our owners have asked us to look for longer periods rather than chase spot fixtures lasting a few months, but we are finding that some charterers are now thinking twice about committing to lengthy charters against the bearish fundamentals," he said.
Paris-based Alphaliner said the smaller containership charter market was "witnessing a correction", with fresh fixtures in the feedermax and handy sectors trending below the last done charters, albeit still at high daily hire rates.
The consultant said that illustrating this was the fixture with CMA CGM of the 1,368-TEU Eagle 11, which the carrier has taken for eight to ten months in the Atlantic at US$36,000 a day, significantly below the daily $62,000 achieved for a similar vessel in February.
And in the feedermax sector, CV 1100-type ships were being extended for periods of 12 months at around $30,000 a day - "Until recently this tonnage could be fixed in the region of $40,000 a day," said Alphaliner.
"Deals of 24 months have also seen falling figures, with fixtures now concluded at $24,000 a day, down from the $30,000 obtainable not long ago," it said."Fuel-efficient ships are, meanwhile, getting fixed at the high $30,000s for 12-month contracts, also significantly down from earlier levels," it noted.
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