Cargoes carrying chemicals from US to England and Europe has increased rapidly. As a result, the transatlantic eastbound chemical freight rates have also increased considerably. This increase in freight rates on the transatlantic is for the first time in last four months since mid-September.
According to a Report by SSY Base Oil Shipping, there has been a flood of cargoes to Great Britain, the Baltic and Antwerp-Rotterdam-Amsterdam. The cargoes carry ethanol, styrene, corn oil and other chemicals. SSY Report also mentioned that “US Gulf-to-Europe cargo volumes multiplied throughout the week, causing January space to rapidly diminish”.
Freight rates have seen a hike only on cargoes of 2,000 tonnes or less, to 80-$85/tonne, from $75-80 previously. Charges on 5,000-tonne shipments held steady at $55-60/tonne.
Source: ICIS
