Freight rates in the Azov region remain at about 30 weeks, and now there is a tendency to further decline of the market. It is most likely that the main obstacle for the conclusion of transactions was high sales price of Russian grain and the lack of significant improvements in the Turkish economy. Many Turkish Traders report that they have not entered into any contract for the purchase of grain from Azov. In such circumstances, Ukrainian grain is greater competition to Russian: it is cheaper, though worse quality, plus the freight rate from Ukrainian Black sea ports of Azov is much lower.
August on the Azov market will be challenging for ship Owners. One of the main reasons – Eid al-Adha in Turkey, the main recipient of grain from Azov. In addition to the downturn there is a risk that vessels not unloading during this period. As a result, a significant amount of tonnage will open almost simultaneously. We can assume that rates will drop even lower, and the level of freight shipments from Yeysk to Samsun will be less than 20 dollars. Growth rates should be expected in the second half of the 34th week and in the 35th. In such circumstances, a large demand from ship-Owners began to use the long direction, which, firstly, helps to ride out market volatility, and secondly, helps to avoid downtime in Turkish ports during the Eid al-Adha.
After a lull in the Caspian sea, according to the number of requests for the second half of August is expected sharp increase in demand for tonnage. This is due to the stabilization of weather conditions and the growing activity of Iranian Importers. On these expectations in the region frontovye dates have gone up. Emerging queries on a flight with newly harvested grain from the middle Volga for the most part, designed for the Caspian market.
Freight for General cargo in transit and on the Volga continues to grow. Despite the situation with the grain and the appearance on the market of a substantial quantity rossilini ships that were previously engaged in handling the growth trend in this segment is not changed. Moreover, the rates for direct flights on the Volga and the Caspian sea are so high that often the Charterers cheaper to send General cargo with transshipment to river vessels in Rostov.