After the seasonal washout in the first fortnight of January, dry cargo freight markets have been making slow but steady progress over the last four weeks, with the BDI rising 18% to 2,043 points by February 20. The gains have been evenly spread with the capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize indices up 19%, 17%, 18% and 20%, respectively. In the Pacific capesize market, charterer interest has been patchy and inconsistent but enough to push up the per-tonne freight rate for iron ore loading in Hedland for Qingdao discharge from $8.50 on January 20 to $9.37 four weeks later. The implied TCE of around $20,800 a month ago was up 17% to $24,330 by February 20 – a multi-year high, to owners’ relief. On the Brazil to China capesize voyage, per-tonne rates were also up over the four weeks to February 20, from $21.95 to $23.86, implying an 8% TCE increase from $22,027 to $23,850. Steady gains in demand across both the Atlantic and Pacific proved good foundations for panamax freight markets over the last four weeks. The headline is the 48% increase in earnings on the north Pacific round voyage to China, reaching $18,117 per day and thus returning to pre-seasonal lows last seen in November 20025. A 27% increase in the backhaul from Asia to Europe, with rates breaching $10,231 on February 20, was predicated on operators ballasting west to try to capture firmer demand during Lunar New Year holidays. To their benefit, earnings on the Atlantic round voyage via the US Gulf were up 9% to a middling $15,064 per day over the four weeks to February 20 while the outbound rate from Europe to Asia was up 4% to $22,223 per day. Rate assessments from Mississippi to Qingdao were steady at around $35,900 per day through January and February. After red ink was liberally splashed around the supramax and ultramax freight markets in the first half of January, the following four weeks heralded a welcome return to positive sentiment and rising freight rates on most routes. In the west, rates from the US Gulf to Europe rose 10% to $25,318 while the reverse voyage attracted $12,171 as of February 20, a 17% gain over four weeks. The TCE for the trip out from west Africa via south America to Asia added 15% to reach $20,971 per day while the TCE for the trip out from the Black Sea / Med to Asia added 7% reach $17,421. These were both trumped by the 28% rise in the TCE for the trip out from the Indian Ocean via South Africa to Asia which hit $14,538 on February 20. In Asia, the south China to Indonesia round voyage improved 22% from an exceptionally low $7,572 to a more acceptable if unremarkable $9,219 even as Chinese coal imports flatlined, simply due to a shorter tonnage list. The north China to Australia round trip added 26% to reach a steady $12,244 per day while the trip from China via Indonesia to load coal for discharge in India added 19% to reach an equally balanced $11,829 per day. The Baltic’s S11 time charter average was up 18% to $14,646. In the current macro-economic climate and seasonal position this can be interpreted as a solid start to 2026. Handysize bulker freight rates have rebounded (mostly) from their worst January for several years, led by – you guessed it – strength in the Atlantic attracting backhaulers from the Pacific. Rates from Brazil to Europe were up a whopping 41% to an equally whopping $23,956 per day on February 20 as Brazil’s agricultural exports are running at near-record levels. Rates from the US Gulf to Europe were also on a streak,