Review of the International Shipping Market in March 2021

      In this period,the Baltic Sea composite freight index BDI closed at 1970,up 295 points or 17.61%from February 26,of which the Capesize index BCI rose 653 points or 45.38%,and the Panamax index rose 78 points or 3.64%.

     On March 9th,the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development(OECD)released a global economic outlook report,stating that the world economy is expected to grow by 5.6%in 2021,and predicting that China's economy will grow by 7.8%in 2021.The epidemic prevention and control measures have entered a normalized state,and fiscal stimulus policies have been introduced in various countries.Vaccination work is progressing in an orderly manner,and the global economic order is expected to return to pre epidemic levels by mid-2021.Currently,market participants have strong confidence.

     The recent market volatility mainly revolves around iron ore.The 62%iron ore index has been continuously rising since May 2020,but has recently experienced a significant decline.On March 9th,it dropped to 163.6 points,with a daily decline of 6.06%,marking the largest daily decline since iron ore entered a frenzy.The reason for this decline is closely related to the negative prospects brought to the market by the environmental protection level one red warning issued by Tangshan,a major steelmaking city in China,after a 4-year hiatus.On the evening of March 8,2021,the Tangshan Municipal Government held an environmental emergency meeting,requiring industrial enterprises to implement production suspension and restriction measures in accordance with the first level red warning response from the 9th to the 11th.

    As of 8:00 on March 9th,some steel mills have stated that transportation has been strictly controlled,but production has not been affected yet.Coinciding with the"two sessions","carbon neutrality"has become a hot word in the market recently.This year,China will continue to implement the strategy of"three reductions,one reduction,and one supplement".Currently,it is unclear how the reduction in production will be implemented,but it can be confirmed that China's use of scrap steel will continue to maintain a growth momentum this year.

     According to data from the General Administration of Customs,the import volume of iron ore in China reached 181.506 million tons from January to February 2021,an increase of 2.8%compared to the same period last year.At the beginning of the New Year,the overall demand for iron ore imports remained strong.In 2020,the total import volume of iron ore in China reached 117.01 million tons,an increase of 9.4%compared to 2019!Under the impact of the epidemic,China's strong prevention and control measures have laid a solid foundation for restoring normal economic order.

     Currently,the freight rates of cape ships,which mainly load iron ore,have been continuously rising,sweeping away the seasonal off-season haze.Among them,the freight rates of the Tubarang Qingdao route have exceeded$20/ton on March 10th,which is considered a strong performance of the market