According to the Baltic Exchange’s Weekly Market Roundups published on January 27, 2023:
LNG
There has been little to note with the Spot LNG market. Some enquiry is reported, but there is more focus on period. This trickles down into the subletting, with ships showing availability for multi-month periods, but with little interest for single voyages. As a result, rates continue to fall. However, they are beginning to settle with all three routes starting to produce a baseline of what owners would likely accept for a theoretical spot voyage. BLNG1g shed $5,183 to close at $74,334. In the Atlantic both BLNG2g and BLNG3g fell between $2,300-$3,300 to close at $55,708 and $71,404 respectively.
The mainstay for LNG vessel owners remains period with interest for multi month/ multi-year deals the main course for the market. Current estimations for a 174k 2-Stroke vsl with 0.085% boil off and delivery one month ahead: $177,000 for 12 months, and $165,250 for three years.
LPG
What a difference a week can make. It had look that amid planned maintenance in the AG, reduced volumes would hamper any rate growth. But with an increase of $16.572 on BLPG1 over the week this wasn’t to be. Levels are still to recover all the losses made over the last few weeks. However, sentiment is improving and with BLPG1 now at $75.143 - and the West market moving upwards as well as tighter tonnage - the possibility of Eastern positioned vessels ballasting across becomes more likely. This will steady the footing of the rising rates.
The West market has seen a big shift over the week with over $15 gained for BLPG3, where we now publish at $126. At the start of the week with fixtures concluded even $20 lower than last publication there hadn’t been much expectation of a rise. After one vessel was fixed away for 15-16 March loading Houston-Chiba at $122 on Wednesday, a flurry of fixtures that followed tightened the list. Finding available tonnage for early March fixing is now difficult. This is now driving sentiment and owners’ expectations. And, with BLPG2 published at $70.6 (a rise of $10.6 from the start of the week), all three routes for LPG have seen good gains.
