Handysize dry bulk freight rates within the Asian region have tumbled 16% in the last three weeks due to lack of cargoes circulating and high numbers of idle ships, Platts reports.

On Tuesday three ship operator and charterer sources quoted $20-21/mt in freight for 30,000 mt of alumina from Bunbury or Kwinana ports in Western Australia to China's Qingdao port, for shipment in the next 30 days.

Platts assessed the freight rate at $24.50/mt on July 9. "There are too many vessels open and not many cargoes," a ship owner said Tuesday. The decline in freight rates runs counter to a 6% rise in Singapore's bunker prices during the same period. Platts on Monday assessed the Singapore 380 CST grade market at $635/mt ex-wharf, compared with 597.50/mt on July 9.