In the second week, freight rates remain on the previous week level. Due to protracted Russian new year holidays there is a low activity of all freight market participants.
The freight rate for the transportation of 3000 metric tons of wheat from Azov to the ports of Marmara Sea remains at USD 19 per metric ton. Long-term low activity of traders is likely to lead to a further decrease in freight rates level in this region.
In the Caspian region a lot of shipowners guided their vessels to Makhachkala and Aktau ports to start execution of contracts, concluded last year. This led to large queues of vessels at these ports. In this regard, shipowners prefer to search for new cargoes from Astrakhan in order to avoid long downtime while waiting for berthing and start of loading. The price of shipping 3000 metric tons of corn remains at the same level, USD 36 PMT from Astrakhan to NIP.