According to the Baltic Exchange’s Weekly Market Roundups published on February 10, 2023:
LNG
There has been movement this week on spot LNG with some fixtures reported. However, these aren’t quite in line with the Baltic Routes as they have tended to be shorter intra-basin fixtures. One reportedly crossed the Mediterranean from Egypt, at quite low numbers, earlier in the week.
Despite an upturn in physical spot fixtures, rates have remained quite steady and flat. All three routes saw minimal movement and as little as $657 change throughout the course of the week on BLNG3g. Sentiment is flat on the back of several weeks of barely any spot interest. Owners and brokers alike are taking stock and looking to see where the market could rise, rather than where it could fall. It seems to have hit the low end of owners’ rate acceptances. With a positive outlook expecting a rise, we close the week at $65,687 for BLNG1g Australia-Japan, $54,062 BLNG2g USG-Cont, and $65,589 BLNG3g USG-Japan.
Period remains of interest to market participants. But with the vast majority of tonnage cleared out for multi-year deals already, the availability of ships that are seen tend to be relets. This of course does mean there are certain caveats to be agreed which could affect discussions.
Current estimations for a 174,000t 2-Stroke vessel with 0.085% boil off and delivery one month ahead: $176,250 for 12 months, and $165,00 for three years.
LPG
A rather flat week for BLPG1 with rates keeping quite steady. Only $1.143 was lost over the week to close at $90.286. There is still some uncertainty over the maintenance and how much affect it will have on the output. But with a vessel fixed off of mid-March dates at $92, and expectations Ras Tanura will be back up to pre-maintenance levels shortly, there could be a turnaround in the direction of the BLPG1. The West market has been slowly shaving dollars throughout the week but ending up only $3.4 and $4 down on BLPG2, and BLPG3 respectively, it hasn’t been huge movements. There have been several fixtures done, but sentiment hasn’t really shifted rates in either direction. Although we saw a ship fixed at $142 for BLPG3 in the week off of mid-March dates, agreement has pegged both markets softer. BLPG2 closes at $78.4 and BLPG3 at $138.
