There’s been a lot of questions about how the Chinese economy will perform for the rest of the year. August trade data was exceptionally high with most of the gain being made in iron ore which was up 14% mom and nearly 11% yoy. The BDI however remained low in August but has since recovered in September and October. Interestingly Chinese steel exports have been at a much higher level in 2023, showing that not all their imports are being used internally.
Bauxite numbers are starting to trend downwards after a very good run in the middle of the year due to favourable weather and loading conditions and grain numbers look on par. The outlook for the remainer of this year looks strong for grain with good harvest in USA, Brazil and Argentina expected while Canada and Ukraine are anticipated to be less than last year.