Indiana Grain Company, LLC

Posted: 07/15/10

By: tomgrisafi

Bloomberg is reporting that fleet capacity of vessels able to carry commodities shipped in bulk, such as iron ore and coal, will grow 16 percent this year.

That information comes from Clarkson Plc, the world's biggest shipbroker.

"Imports of iron ore by China, the world's biggest user of the commodity, will decline this year for the first time since 1998," Mysteel Research Institute forecasts.

"We're faced with oversupply," says Nigel Prentis, director of research and consultancy at HSBC Shipping Services Ltd. "The fleet of capesize vessels, three times the size of the Statue of Liberty, expands by about one every two days," he said.

The index fell 9 points, or 0.5 percent, to 1,700 points, according to the Baltic Exchange in London. That's the 35th consecutive drop, notes Bloomberg, the longest streak since November 1995.

Daily rates for capesizes fell 1.7 percent to $12,073, the lowest since January 2009.

Source: Bloomberg