Clean

The Middle East Gulf has been stable this week with some minimal fluctuations. On the LR2s TC1 bottomed out at WS161 midweek, down from WS179, and has then resurged back up to WS165.63 with end of week reports of WS170 and WS172.5 on subjects at the time of writing. A trip to the UK-Continent, TC20, has ticked down from $3,930,000 to $3,800,000 across the week. Meanwhile on the LR1s TC5 has held in the WS212.5-WS215 range all week and a voyage west has been pegged at the $3,500,000-$3,550,000 mark.

AG MR freight levels have also been stationary, seeing the TC17 index only losing an incremental 5.72 points to WS372.14.

West of Suez LR2 activity has again been muted this week and TC15 has dropped again, settling at $3,225,000 (-$133,333). By comparison the LR1s have been active and TC16 has climbed 14.28 points to WS220.71.

On the UK-Continent MR freight levels began a rush upwards from a burst of activity early in the week - only to halt just as quickly. TC2 rapidly climbed up to WS315 and has then recorrected down to WS306.11. Similarly, TC19 rose up to WS324 and has then resettled back down to WS314.64. 

In the US Gulf MRs have been inactive and there has been plenty of available tonnage. Subsequently, TC14 lost 11.25 points to WS158.75 and TC18 dropped from WS269.17 to WS258.75. A run down to the Caribbean, TC21, also shed a little over $26,000 to $656,667.

The MR Atlantic Triangulation Basket TCE lost $2602 from $36,375 to $33,373.

On the Handymax, both the Mediterranean and Baltic have seen significant improvements. TC6 has jumped 111.25 points to WS350 from decreased vessel availability and TC9 continued traction up to WS494.29 (+WS63.22).

 

VLCC

The VLCC market remained firm this week. 270,000 mt Middle East Gulf to China gained a further six points to just over WS113 (a daily TCE round trip of $79,700). The 280,000mt Middle-East Gulf to US Gulf (via the cape/cape routing) trip is assessed 2.5 points higher than last week at WS62.

In the Atlantic region, the rate for 260,000mt from West Africa to China climbed another six points to around the WS112.5-113 level (a round-trip TCE Earning of $79,800 per day) and 270,000mt US Gulf/China marginally slipped by $18,750 to $12.99 million ($69,200 per day round trip TCE, about $100 per day less than last Friday).

 

Suezmax


The Suezmax market in the West rebounded with rates recovering all recent lost ground and continuing on an upward trend. For the 135,000mt CPC/Augusta trip, support came from the Aframax market with Suezmax vessels able to fix Aframax cargoes - in particular from the Black Sea. This enabled Suezmax rates to gain 15 points to WS215 (a TCE showing a daily return of $95,200). In West Africa, the 130,000mt to Rotterdam voyage saw rates climb 7.5 points to between WS190-192.5 (a daily TCE round-trip of $70,500). The 140,000mt Basrah/Lavera market eased slightly, by about 1.5 points, to WS93.

 

Aframax

The Aframax market in the US-Caribbean region fell again this week with the rate for 70,000mt Covenas/US Gulf losing six points to the WS375 region ($93,300per day round-trip TCE). Meanwhile, the 70,000mt East Coast Mexico/US Gulf trip dropped only 1.5 points to the very low WS390s (a round-trip TCE of about $107,200, about $600 per day lower than a week ago).

For the longer-haul 70,000mt US Gulf/Rotterdam voyage the rate shed 14 points to WS286 (a TCE of $61,800 per day round-trip).

Across the Atlantic, 80,000mt Hound Point/Wilhelmshaven is now assessed a firmer 3.5 points higher than last week at WS220 (a daily TCE of $77,100 round-trip). In the Mediterranean, which became very busy in the early part of the week, a firm sentiment remains as the position list is looking tight. The 80,000mt Ceyhan/Lavera route ascended 21 points to the WS260-262.5 region (showing a daily round-trip TCE of $78,900).