Dry-bulk shipping rates tumbled in the last half of January, at one point falling to about $30,000 a day for capesize ships on the spot market.

Some attributed the fortnight of January weakening -- after what had been a healthy fourth quarter for the dry trade -- to a falloff in the price of Chinese steel. Declining steel prices give mining companies and other charterers the power to negotiate lower freight costs with ship owners.

This week, though, rates have rebounded some. According to London's Baltic Exchange, the going rate for a capesize vessel on the spot market recently was about $30,700.

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