A surge of iron ore and coal imports into China has boosted the earnings of dry bulk carriers and halted the wave of bankruptcies and defaults that swept the sector late last year and early this year.
Average day earnings for the largest ships, known as Capesizes, have risen from about $17,000 on April 6 to a high of $93,197 on June 3. Prices have since fallen but were yesterday at $70,272 a day, almost four times the rate in early April.
The surge has brought relief to a sector that saw possibly the sharpest fall-off in earnings of any industry as a result of the economic downturn. Average Capesize earnings fell 99 per cent from a peak of $233,988 per day on June 4 last year to about $2,400 in December.