Toepfer Transport Multipurpose Index edged up again and is stable at this high level with the effects the current attack on Ukraine by Russia are still unclear. 

The Hamburg-based shipbroker noted that the Far East was the key driver that kept the rates stable at this high level. TMI for the month of March 2022 edged up 1.88 percent compared to the previous month, reaching $22.274. This is also a jump of 196.2 percent compared to March 2021.

However, looking ahead six months, Toepfer expects the Index to edge downwards 0.39 percent while it is expected to slip 9.16 percent over the 12-month period.

“The impact of the war in the Ukraine is yet unclear and thus not reflected in the index rate. As a consequence of the various measures against the unlawful and pointless Russian attack on the Ukraine, many cargoes are stuck in Russian and Ukrainian ports and many industrial projects are on hold. The impact on the agricultural sector will cause the inflation rates to increase significantly, especially within the EURO zone,” Toepfer Transport’s analysts said in the latest report.

“The availability of MPP sales candidates is extremely tight and there many buyers which are willing and able to buy tonnage at the current high price levels,” the report reads.

Toepfer reminded that AAL expanded its order for the Super B-Class heavy lift multipurpose vessels to a total of six. The broker also informed that UHL ordered another two F900-types from Hudong yard in China and is also in firm negotiations to place Super-Heavylift vessel orders in China. The company has already taken delivery of seven F900-type vessels in 2021 and the last vessel in the series, MV UHL Felicity, is set for delivery in early 2022.