The Rotterdam to Singapore freight rate for VLCCs jumped Monday to a lump sum of $2.55 million on a fuel oil fixture East, from a rate of $2.4 million last week.
The As Suwayq was booked by Trafigura for loading out of Rotterdam on September 3, carrying approximately 280,000 mt of high sulfur fuel oil, according to ship reports. Trafigura could not be immediately reached for comment.
The vessel is currently en route to Rotterdam via West Africa, according to S&P Global Platts trade flow software cFlow.
This is the first VLCC booked for September on the route from Rotterdam to Singapore.
But traders were skeptical of any bullish tone spreading across the fuel oil market for better arbitrage opportunities.
Arbitrage volumes to Singapore from Europe are expected to fall to about 3.5 million-4 million mt in August, below the typical 5 million mt/month in recent months.
“The economics still don’t work, and with the freight even higher now, it makes even less sense”, said one trader.
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Source: Platts
