Week 9, 2018 (Feb.26-Mar.02), the International Grain Future Freight (IGF) reported the Panamax forward freight rate of U.S. Gulf-Tianjin route (soybean) from Jun. to Jul. in 2018, and the trend is shown in the chart below.

The soybean reaping met some difficulties due to constant raining in middle part of Brazil. Up to now, the soybean reaping in Brazil from 2017 to 2018 has been completed 35% and fell behind compared with 47% in the same period last year. The overall rainfall in Argentina soybean producing area is insufficient, so it is difficult to alleviate the drought, and the soybean yield reduction is expected to rise again.

In terms of the shipping market, the future freight rate increased this week. It increased both on Feb.26 (Mon.) and on Feb.28 (Wed.), finally being closed at $34.25/ton which increased 2.24% compared with that on Feb.23 (the last release day of Week 9), though once suffered a slight decrease on Mar.02 (Fri.).