Why a Short Haul Can Cost More Per Tonne Than a Long One

Izmail to Marmara is roughly 300 nautical miles. Constanta to Algeria is closer to five times that. Yet the Izmail run fixed at $91/mt and the Algeria run at $34/mt (Metalexpert, ISM Freight & Chartering Weekly, 20 October 2026). On the surface that looks backwards. It isn't.

In coaster and mini-bulker trades, freight is mostly built from costs that don't scale with distance: port dues, pilotage, canal transit, agency fees, loading and discharge time. On a long haul those costs spread across more sea miles and the per-tonne number comes down. On a short haul there's nowhere for them to hide, so they land directly on the rate. A nearby reference makes the same point: Constanta to Bari/Ortona, 957nm on a 5,500dwt coaster, fixed at $33.5/mt (ISM Coasters and Mini Bulkers, Metal Expert, Week 41, 11 October 2026) — broadly in line with the longer Algeria run despite a fraction of the distance, because the fixed-cost base per voyage barely moves.

This segment is telling a slightly different story than the headline indices right now. BDI closed at 2,628 on 26 October (down 32 points, 1.2%, from 2,660 on 23 October), and the move is almost entirely a Capesize and Panamax story: BCI at 3,726 (down 65 points, averaging around $30,300/day) and BPI at 2,075, which has fallen without a break since mid-month, when it stood above 2,400. BSI and BHSI haven't published fresh numbers as of today's close, so the small-tonnage index picture is a few days stale. What we do have, from actual fixtures, is this: short-haul Black Sea coaster rates are holding firm even as Panamax erodes — big-ship and small-ship tonnage often run on different cycles rather than in lockstep.

One thing worth watching into November and December: seasonal weather delay through the Bosphorus tends to pick up this time of year, adding days to any voyage routed through the Strait regardless of cargo size. We don't have a specific delay event to point to yet this season, so treat this as a general seasonal pattern rather than a live congestion report.