For much of the last year, grain freight buyers’ shipping costs have been relatively benign. The International Grains Council’s Grains and Oilseeds Freight Index, though experiencing some volatility, has declined — falling from 177 points in mid-December 2023 to just 129 on Dec. 10, 2024.
As always, the supply-demand balance of the overall bulk carrier fleet has set the tone for grain shippers using vessels of panamax size and smaller, with grain flows influencing the market for less-than-capesize vessels on a seasonal basis. Unlike the fourth quarter of last year, what has been apparent in the fourth quarter of 2024 is that the market has turned against vessel owners, with shipping consultancy MSI reporting that owner expectations of a seasonal demand spike in late 2024 had been met “by sharply lower freight rates.”
