Panama dry bulk rates were flat with an easier bias on Tuesday on slow shipments of new South American crops, with China's attempts to curb its rapid economic growth hurting market sentiment, regional brokers said.
Modern Panama rates for dry bulk cargoes stood on Tuesday at between $71 and $72 a tonne for the benchmark US Gulf to Japan route, little changed from $70 to $75 a week, they said.
The freight market is in a softer mood as orders for grain vessels decreased recently due to delayed shipments of South American grains, which were caused by slow crop collection, labour disputes and port congestion, they said.
Freight rates have more than doubled in the past six months alone, mainly helped by strong Chinese demand for minerals. In recent months, rates were buoyed by expectations for shipments of new South American crops.
On Tuesday, a senior Chinese central bank official said that Beijing planned to take further measures to cool the economy if steps already in place fail to cool the economy.
Although the freight market has been retreating from January's all-time highs, East Asian brokers said they did not expect rates to decline much from the current levels, given healthy Asian demand for raw materials.
"Easier rates will probably stimulate new orders because physical distribution is basically active," the Tokyo broker said.
"From the second half of May, freight rates are likely to rebound with shipment orders for South American grains," another Seoul broker said.
In the period market, time-charter rates for the US Gulf to the Far East were around $52,000 a day plus $825,000 ballast bonus (BB), versus $51,500 a day plus $850,000 BB a week, Japanese brokers said. Seoul brokers said deals had been made at below $50,000 a day plus $800,000 BB.