The Hamburg-based broker Toepfer Transport saying its index has risen to $18,973 for the month of December. It is the 18th consecutive month the Index has been growing, hitting a year-on-year increase of 173.73 percent. 

In its latest briefing, Toepfer Transport said that its Multipurpose Shipping Index grew 9 percent from the previous month. The broker reminded in the previous report that the $20,000 mark is still in sight and the index has been edging ever closer to the figure.

The high demand for MPP tonnage remains steady and even the upcoming holiday season does not cause a significant slow-down of the ongoing rise. Time charter contracts are being fixed well in advance with only very few spot market opportunities. Securing vessel space is the focus of most carriers which are now looking at longer charter periods of three years and above for the standard MPP-Types.

There is very low activity in the order book. While many owners are hunting for newbuilding slots, the lack of availability, or better the limited amount of shipyards willing to look into building MPP-vessels, is the main bottleneck at the moment. The prices for both Newbuildings and Second-Hand-Tonnage are stable at high levels.