According to the Baltic Exchange’s Weekly Market Roundups published on February 10, 2023:
Clean
The Clean Product tanker market has seen improvements on all sectors and sizes this week, highlighted by the BCTI climbing from 629 to 822.
In the Middle East Gulf, available tonnage has been quickly snapped up and owners’ sentiment has been appropriately firmer. TC1 has come up 26.62 points to WS123.5 and a TC20 run west has gained $560,000 to $3,610,000. LR1s have been similarly better with TC5 (55,000t MEG/Japan) settling at WS142.5 (+13.21) by the end of the week. On a voyage to the UK-Continent (TC8) has hopped up $383,000, sailing over the $3,000,000 mark to $3,250,000. MRs have been the greatest improvers of the region this week with TC17 jumping up 92.85 points to WS327.14 and a round trip TCE of $41,126 per day.
West of Suez, LRs have also begun to climb. TC15 has risen to the tune of $347,500 to $2,737,500. This is still a negative TCE round-trip earning, but is heading in the right direction and into the negative hundreds rather than thousands. After trawling along at WS130 for a couple of weeks the LR1s of TC16 also saw a welcome boost and the index currently sits at WS155.
In the UK-Continent, MRs have flourished with TC2 and TC19 both climbing around 150 points to WS289.44 and WS298.57 respectively. Similarly, on the Handymax TC23 (30,0000t Cross UK-Continent) has climbed off the WS130s floor it had been sat on and gained 26.87 points to WS161.25.
In the Mediterranean, TC6 rose firmly back over the WS200 mark to WS214.38 taking the round trip TCE back over the $30,000 per day.
In the Americas, strong sentiment has caused a surge in MR rates. TC14 gained 56.67 points to WS127.5 and TC18 improved 78.33 points to WS205.83. Meanwhile, a TC21 run to the Caribbean ended up at $775,000 (+$373,333).
VLCC
The VLCC market had a more positive outcome this week with rates (and earnings) rising across the board. For the 270,000mt Middle East Gulf to China voyage, the rate rose by 3.5 points (6-7%) to WS53 which shows a daily round-voyage TCE of $26,500 basis the Baltic Exchange’s vessel description. The rate for 280,000mt Middle East Gulf to US Gulf (via the cape/cape routing) is assessed two points higher at WS37.
In the Atlantic markets, the rate for 260,000mt West Africa/China improved by nine points (16-17%) to WS59 showing a round-trip TCE of $34,600 per day. The rate for 270,000mt US Gulf/China climbed $905,000 (about 12%) to just over $8.416 million ($30,300 per day round trip TCE).
Suezmax
The rate for 135,000mt CPC/Augusta dropped by 3.5 points this week to just below WS162 (a round-trip TCE of $81,400 per day). In West Africa, for the 130,000mt Nigeria/Rotterdam voyage, rates remained steady at between WS110-112.5 (a daily-round trip TCE of about $43,200 per day). In the Middle East, the rate for 140,000mt Basrah/Lavera also remained flat at between WS55-56.
Aframax
In the North Sea market, rates for the 80,000mt Hound Point/Wilhelmshaven route had a 2.5 point trim to WS163 (a round-trip daily TCE of $56,700). In the Mediterranean, the rate for 80,000mt Ceyhan/Lavera lost another 10 points to WS187.5 (a daily round-trip TCE of $61,200). Across the Atlantic, the Stateside Aframax market seems poised. The rate for 70,000mt East Coast Mexico/US Gulf improved by four points to the WS168-169 region (about $42,000 per day round-trip TCE). The rate for 70,000mt Covenas/US Gulf rose by three points to a little over WS160 (a daily round-trip TCE of $36,100). For the Transatlantic route of 70,000mt US Gulf/Rotterdam, rates continued upwards, rising five points to between WS180-182.5 (showing a round-trip TCE of $44,800 per day).
