THE dry cargo market had a strong start to the year as more bulk carriers rerouted away from the Suez Canal, port congestion in China increased and higher than expected Brazilian iron ore exports all pushed up tonne-mile demand.

And, of course, the lowest level of bulk carrier fleet growth for almost a decade has also been a pretty significant contributing factor in tightening vessel supply, all of which is making for an interesting market right now for those in the dry bulk space.

In this edition of our mini-series of market outlook podcasts, Lloyd’s List’s market’s editor Rob Willmington talks to BIMCO chief shipping analyst Niels Rasmussen about the dry cargo market prospects for the rest of the year and beyond.

There are two more editions of these mini market outlooks for you to feast your ears on this week. Lloyd’s List containers editor James Baker talks to Xeneta chief analyst Peter Sand about the prospects for the box markets here; and Lloyd’s List editor-in-chief Richard Meade discusses tanker market dynamics with BRS research chief Andrew Wilson here.