•The demand for spot ships has decreased, and the LNG spot market is still quiet.
•Reports indicate that in August, there was little cargo loaded for export to Europe in the US.
•Spot ship requests in the Pacific, but Southeast Asian loading is delayed.
LNG Spot Rates Remain Flat as Demand Slows
The demand for spot ships has decreased, and the LNG spot market has had a calm week. According to reports, only one shipment is planned to be loaded in the US for export to Europe in August, keeping rates unchanged. There have been occasional requests for spot ships in the Pacific region, but loading in Southeast Asia has been slow while Australia has remained muted. The LNG 2023 event in Vancouver has also captured the interest of many market participants, which has added to the general dearth of activity. It was not anticipated that rates would move significantly because of the typical summer slowdown and high worldwide gas storage levels.
Rates are mostly stable notwithstanding the absence of open interest. For the Aus-Japan route, the BLNG1g tariff dropped by $340, ending at $67,535. The US rates in the Atlantic saw slightly larger drops, with the US-Japan rate falling by almost $2,000 to close at $82,357 and the BLNG2g US-UK rate publishing at a round-trip price of $69,670.
LPG Market Sees Stability After Volatile Week
The LPG market has retreated, showing a more steady pattern after a turbulent week. There was little traffic on the BLPG1 Ras Tanura-Chiba line, and there was only one documented replacement fixture. The closing rate for this route was $110.143, a decrease of $4.143 in rates. The daily return in TCE (Time Charter Equivalent) was $97,320. Brokers feel there is currently a balance between supply and demand, even though market sentiment is flat and the market’s path is still up in the air.
The US scenario reflected the general trend. LPG prices barely changed over the week; BLPG3 Houston-Chiba dropped by just $1 to close at $174.714. On the other hand, BLPG2 Houston-Flushing increased by $1 and closed at $102.4. The modest rate changes had little effect on daily TCE earnings. The daily TCE profits for the eastern run are at $98,288 while the daily TCE earnings for Houston-UKC increased by $608 to $119,480. Despite the shortening of the list of accessible tons and ongoing worries about Panama delays, rates have not yet been appreciably impacted by these issues.
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Source: Baltic Exchange
