This month’s rout in capesize bulker spot rates came to an end this week as the market stabilised amid a possible rally, while those for the dry bulk sector's smaller ships fell steadily.

Friday saw the weighted time-charter average rate for the Baltic Capesize Index’s five key benchmarks grow by $212 to $18,749 per day.

This level is 36% below where the assessment was two weeks ago, but volatility has been relatively low this week, which has helped improve sentiment somewhat.