Sydney （Platts） Dec 28---The cost of freight for alumina and other dry cargoes on handysize ships continued to weaken Tuesday within the Asia Pacific, dragged by lackluster demand during the holiday season, industry sources said.
It will now cost $24/mt to ship 30,000 mt of alumina from Bunbury and Kwinana in Western Australia to Qingdao in northern China, if the cargo were to be lifted in the next 30 days. Platts' freight assessment for the route was $26/mt a week ago and $26.50/mt two weeks ago.
"The market has softened a bit since last week," an operator said Tuesday. Ship owners were now likely to settle for much lower than $25/mt, she estimated. Chartering activity was expected to rebound from middle of next week when market participants return from holidays, she added.
The downswing in freight rates runs counter to a bullish trend in crude oil futures, which have been trading at two-year highs since early December. Although bunker prices have risen during the period, sources said freight rates were hurting from ample supply of under-utilized ships in the region.
February light sweet crude futures settled at $91/barrel on the NYMEX Monday in the US, while February Brent closed at $93.85/b on ICE. The NYMEX contract has averaged $79.33/b to date since the year began, with the Brent contract averaging $80.04/b to date.
Handysize refers to ships with deadweight of 15,000 to 35,000 tons.
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