A look at the weekly market report of vessels reveals new market trends as sourced by C.R Weber Research.
Analyzing The Market Trends
VLCC: Following weeks of stagnant movements in the AG, TD3 saw rates increase after 21 days below ws50; this week saw TD3 end at ws53.75 (270k MT), up almost seven points from Monday. While the AG saw pressure rise, the Atlantic remained flat, with many ballasters heading away from the AG for the higher levels in the Atlantic. The eastbound rates from the USG (270k MT) pushed towards the $7.0 mil level, while TA settled at $3.0 mil, and with the August USG program nearing completion, we expect a quieter period ahead.
SUEZMAX: It was a quiet week throughout the Atlantic for the Suezmax fleet. TD20 WAF>UKC (130k MT) saw rates begin the week at ws97.5 (Baltic 98.44), but as activity waned rates softened to ws95 (Baltic 94.75) to end the week. The slight dip in TD20 caused Brazil>East to follow as it fell in line from ws100 (130k MT) to ws97.5. In the Gulf, there was not much of any activity to speak of leaving owners and charterers in a standoff as USG>UKCM hovered at ws82.5 (145k MT) and Covenas>USG stayed consistent at ws90 (150k MT), although both were untested. Guyana>UCKM was the only route that saw some change as it fell five points from ws92.5 at the start of the week to ws87.5 (130k MT)
AFRAMAX: Disruptions as the result of last week’s hurricane along with owners’ selectiveness in which routes they want to do caused TD26 ECMEX>USG to see a bump this week from ws210 to ws230 (70k MT) while TD25 USG>UKCM remained flat around ws190 before it eventually fell to ws172.5 (70k MT) to close out the week. Across the world, the Cross Med routes are still experiencing a soft market due to an oversupply of tonnage ending the week at ws127.5 levels (80k MT) while TD 8 AG>SPORE did not move much at all going from ws170 to ws168.5 (80k MT).
MR: These past few weeks have been a rollercoaster, and this week proved no different. TC2 saw nothing but a steep climb from where it started at ws185 to ws205 (37k MT). This side of the pond had a different story entirely coming off last week’s meteoric rise. TA cargoes while popular this week saw a heavy decline, starting at ws215 and closing off the week at ws170 (38k MT). Brazil only saw a few movements this week – starting at ws260 and now being called ws245 (38k MT). The Caribs runs also saw an intense drop off this week following a drop in the market early in the week. Rates reached $1.2m earlier this week and dropped to $775k (38K MT) by Thursday and Friday. Owners have claimed that the market has bottomed, while charterers still think that the market could be pushed lower so stay tuned.
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Source: CRWEBER
