The situation remains tense for small-tonnage owners operating in the Baltic Sea. There is still an acute shortage of new cargo offers, while the tonnage list significantly exceeds demand for fleet in the basin. New requests for cargo transportation are rare; players note sporadic offers of fertilizers, agri products, steel and timber cargoes. All the above results in sharp competition among owners and further concessions to charterers. Despite the fact that the market seemed to have already reached the bottom, rates have dropped by another €0.5-1/t this week.
Thus, a 4-5,000 t lot of steel has been fixed from St. Petersburg to Szczecin at €6/t. Shipment of 4,000 t of barley from Riga to northern Spain costs €15/t. The transportation cost of 3-4,000 t of fertilizers from Klaipeda to the ARAG ports is already discussed at €10-11/t, while shipment of a 7-8,000 t stem may cost less than €9/t. Rates for shipment of 3,000 t of agri products (sf 56`) from Kaliningrad to Gdansk amount to about €7/t. Transportation of 3,000 t of back-haul cargo from the Continent to the northern part of the Baltic Sea is negotiated at about €10/t.