The Tubarao-Qingdao freight rate, a key indicator for the supply of iron ore from Brazil to China, has risen to the highest level in recent years.
Banchero Costa, a shipping broker, reported that the rate reached $38.36 per metric ton this week, an increase of 57 percent from the same period a year earlier. In January 2026, it was still around $20 per ton.
Analysts believe the increase reflects several factors: higher bunker fuel prices related to the war in the Middle East, higher seasonal steel demand from China's construction sector, and an unstable week during which declining iron ore shipments in the Pacific region boosted demand for shipments from the South Atlantic.
Sources said that in the coming weeks, Tubarao-Qingdao freight rates are likely to continue to rise, and there are signs indicating that $40 per ton in October on laikan
.
There are no comments yet.