Coronavirus impact on bulks - Fortnight ending 26th June

The perils of reopening economies and society too soon were on full display over the past two weeks as outbreaks popped up and records for daily cases of Covid-19 were broken. The US and China look to fight off their own resurgences while India and Brazil continue to fight blind as testing lags. The gains made in June towards a global economic rebound appear to be losing a bit of steam. The onset of rainy seasons in India and China will only further dampen global demand. Iron ore, the recent commodity superstar, appears to be cresting as supply looks to return and Chinese demand ebbs. Chinese thermal coal generation faces ample hydro quenched by historical rains, soaking import coal markets in the process. Powered by strong coke margins and growing blast furnace utilisations, coking coal staved off declines although import quota and demand risks continue to play havoc on deliveries into the next month despite healthy arbitrages.