According to the Baltic Exchange’s Weekly Market Roundups published on January 20, 2023:
Clean
The CPP tanker market has for the most part continued its drop this week. As with last week there are a couple of sectors that have managed to see small improvements.
LR’s in the Middle East Gulf have continued to freefall. An LR2 to Japan, TC1, has lost just under 50 points this week to WS128.13. Similarly TC5, an LR1 for the same voyage, has dropped 62.5 points to WS148.93. For charters heading to the West, TC20 (90kt Jubail/Rotterdam) is now $3,614,286 (-$671,428) while 65kt on the same run (TC8) is now $2,879,500, also down around $600,000. At these levels LR TCE’s are returning around $20,000-25,000/day round trip.
MR’s in the region continued upwards this week, reflected in the TC17 index rising 11.5 points to WS251.14.
LR’s West of Suez have also been tested down this week with a widely reported TC15 voyage at $3,100,000 on subjects and soft sentiment the index is currently marked at $3,000,000 (-$858,000). TC16 has also dipped 58 points to WS135.14.
UK-Continent MR’s saw a flurry of activity early in the week and TC2 quickly climbed to just under WS220 and then returned down to WS205. Similarly TC19 peaked at WS235 to return down to WS218 at time of writing.
Handymaxs have made an improvement in the Mediterranean and we have seen TC6 climb 11.87 points to WS191.25 from increased requirement. TC23 (30kt Cross UK-Continent) after dropping about 30 Worldscale points has plateaued at WS150.
In the Americas, the downward pressure has continued this week, most notably on a vessel needing a dry dock reported on subjects at WS75 for a Transatlantic run. The TC14 index has come down to WS80.83 (-10.21) with TC18 only losing an incremental five points to WS145 and a trip to the Caribbean on TC21 shedding $10,000 to $475,000.
VLCC
The VLCC market rose marginally this week, except for the US Gulf to China route. 270,000mt Middle East Gulf to China recovered a modest two points to WS46.73, which translates into a round voyage TCE of $18,100 basis the Baltic Exchange’s vessel description, while 280,000mt Middle East Gulf to US Gulf (via the cape/cape routing) is assessed half a point firmer than last Friday at WS35.
In the Atlantic markets, the rate for 260,000mt West Africa/China stepped up 2.5-3 points to WS50.88 (a round trip TCE of about $24,100 per day) and the rate for 270,000mt US Gulf/China fell by a little over $211,100 to just below $8.17 million ($28,500 per day round trip TCE).
Suezmax
The Suezmax market was a mixed-bag rate wise this week. The rate for 135,000mt CPC/Augusta remained flat at about the WS203-204 level (a round trip TCE of $115,100 per day).
In West Africa, sentiment is lower due mainly to news that the first half of February is reported to have fewer chartering opportunities compared to recent weeks. For the 130,000mt Nigeria/Rotterdam voyage, rates dropped 10 points to WS125 (a daily round trip TCE of $48,600). In the Middle East, the rate for 140,000mt Basrah/Lavera slipped one point to WS71.25.
Aframax
In the North Sea market, rates for the 80,000mt Hound Point/Wilhelmshaven route rose a meagre one point to a WS162 (a round-trip daily TCE of $57,400). In the Mediterranean, the rate for 80,000mt Ceyhan/Lavera rose five points to WS244 (a daily round trip TCE of $92,300), with cargoes from Libya and the Black Sea able to tap into the Suezmax market, thereby capping the rates for the Aframax market.
Across the Atlantic, the recent rise in rates seen for the Stateside Aframax market has slowed, with the rate for 70,000mt East Coast Mexico/US Gulf climbing through the WS200 barrier and settling on week-on-week improvement of about three points at WS203 (about $56,800 per day round-trip TCE). The 70,000mt Covenas/US Gulf market also benefitted from a 2.5 point improvement to WS185 (a daily round-trip TCE of $45,700). For the trans-Atlantic route of 70,000mt US Gulf/Rotterdam, rates climbed another five points to WS176 (showing a round trip TCE of $42,100 per day).
