The liquid West Australia to China C5, which closed at $11.368, and the Brazil to China C3, which closed at $25.205, were both highly active in volatile trading sessions.
Rate levels are now closing in on the highs from last year, albeit the build-up in values this time around appear not to be taking off like a spaceship but rather taking considered pauses for evaluation.
A topsy-turvy week for the Panamax market, with the first half starting out in a very bearish trend only for it to rebound mid-week as the market bulls returned with some suggesting the market had possibly over corrected with fundamentals not really changing.
Positive sentiment returned to the sector this week with increased cargo enquiry from key areas such as the US Gulf where a 63,000 dwt was covered for a trip to the eastern Mediterranean in the upper teens, also from East Coast South America with the uptake on the larger Panamax size.
Both the US Gulf and East Coast South America had slowed their decline on trans-Atlantic runs this week and showed positive returns for the first time since 19 March.
The Continent was still under pressure with a 37,000 dwt fixing from the Continent to Brazil at a rumoured $12,500.
The US Gulf levels appeared to have levelled out with a 28,000 dwt fixing from Tampa to the UK at $11,000 which is similar to levels being concluded last week.