John Faraclas
As we expected the BDI (Baltic Dry Index) continued is fall – not yet a free fall, but a considerable one and now, thanks once again to the Capers the BDI stands at 1,125 points – minus 14. On a weekly basis the BDI lost 154 points!!!! The Geopolitical situation per our prognosis turns more than sour and expect more mess all over Planet Ocean with the focal point remaining the region from Gibraltar to Afghanistan and from the Caucasus to the Horn of Africa… John Faraclas’ daily and weekly recap:
The Capers lost another 118 points with the BCI now reading 1,493 points which is down 803 points since last Friday the 12th of January… Those who managed to fix their tonnage on period might gain something… CAUTION!
The Panamaxes on the other hand did well “reversing” the tide and gained 22 points with the BPI standing at 1,333 points. On a weekly basis our favourite size lost 15 points – from 1,348… Hope is on the crest of the wave..; we shall see…
The Supras’ BSI gained just a point… and now reads 911; on a weekly basis it was good to see four points plus… better than nothing…
The questionable Handies’ BHSI was up four points at 584 but down three since last week’s 584…
So all in all a falling Dry market and let’s await the Chinese New Year to surpass the last “excuse” of this perplexed and enigmatic market; the Dog though isn’t yet “barking…”.
The Wets were also on a falling mode; the last published BDTI (Dirties) and BCTI (Cleans) stood at 707 – minus eight and 570 – minus four points respectively. On a weekly basis the Dirties gained 26 points – from 681 and the Cleans lost 39 – from 609 respectively.
There is a long way to go as the Wets should be over and above the 1,000 point mark so things make sense…
The WTI as these lines are being is almost in its closing stage of the day at US$63.35. Again we insist that this is an unproductive price greatly affecting the poor masses worldwide and it might backfire…
The Geopolitical situation continues to deteriorate; all through the week the most important issues remain:
The MIGRANTS now by far the number one most crucial issue; imagine a totally divided Europe due to this issue. Meantime the flow of MIGRANTS continue “uninterrupted” from the two main “hubs”, the Anatolian coast of Turkey and North Africa, that is to say mainly the lawless nation of Libya.
The War in Syria and Iraq continues and the latest bombardment of the Kurdish positions in Afrin by the Turkish artillery and the possible air bombardment might jeopardise the entire peace process there; all depend what’s on the American and Russian agendas…
Turkey should be stopped by any way the superpowers feel necessary as the predictable unpredictable president Erdogan my create havoc all over… Pestering Greece might lead to incalculable repercussions for NATO too… A county in multiple mess tries to entertain its internal problems by provoking Greece on all fronts…
Greece is also in a total mess with its internal situation and we believe another financial aid might be needed to safeguard the previous ones… And thee are many more issues. Add the long standing issue for one of its north neighbours, that is to say FYROM… on the name.
More news before midnight as we are heading for yet another Winter BBQ’s that Ravi Mehrotra organises for the London and International shipping community for which we will report as we always do.
Have a nice evening and a peaceful weekend and be on guard from any act by Pirates and Terrorists.
