Shipping rates for iron ore see record jump amid China purchases

Daily rates for vessels shipping iron ore jumped a record 38%, to US$12,580, as China bought record amounts of the commodity, Bloomberg reported, citing data from London’s Baltic Exchange shipping bourse. The rise in rates for Capesize vessels that haul about 160,000 metric tons comes as China’s growth has slowed; the country received an average of 77.72 million tons a month this year according to customs data. “We’re seeing an increased push towards Chinese volume being shipped,” Alex Gray, chief executive officer of Clarkson Securities, a unit of the world’s biggest shipbroker, said by phone. “That’s what’s driving us upwards at the moment.”