Stability remains a sweet dream: A lot of what the tanker market has lacked the last year is stability, sure it has played in favor of the Owners, but as the market remains firm and newbuildings are not crazy, so it seems that charterers are accepting that a prolonged firm market is likely the reality and is giving longer periods.
3. April 2023 – RESEARCH
Oil prices have been dancing between $70 – $80 on the brent recently, and anywhere in that range seems to be the stable range that both consumers can swallow, and the tanker market can follow, however, OPEC+ does not deem it enough as a long list of member countries decided to cut production by over 1.1MBD from May till rest of 2023, a surprise attack from the ruling mafia of the oil world that continues to play monopoly.
A production cut is naturally not a positive thing for the tanker market, however, any form of volatility usually plays out well
for the tanker market, so it’s best to let it digest and tell by the aftermath.
CRUDE/DPP SPOT:
A bit of a dull week for the VLCCs, in the USG it was mostly flat with stable activity, but WAF was struggling to hold up the momentum which affected rates. VLs in the AG got a punch to the stomach as low activity pushed MEG/Far East rates lower and ended the week sluggish.
Overall a slow–moving week for Suezmax as well, as the market looked flat WW, and in WAF there was not much reported,however, it seemsthat some Owners managed to fix it under the radar. The Aframax segment did not have much fun this week either, Black Sea and MED Afras saw the market take a sizeable hit due to the few cargoes, also a lot of focus is on France as the developing strikes could change the market.
CLEAN/CPP SPOT:
The LR2 Owners are struggling a bit to keep the market rates up, as some Owners are a little too keen to head west from AG/WCI meaning that their intent to load baltic or black sea is allowing them to accept lower rates on the trip back to the west, this more than fundamentals seem to have caused the market to take a small hit. The LR1 market looked more or less stable this week with some small upside gains and ended with positive sentiment for the coming week.
In Singapore, the MR activity seemed slow, but still, the market moved in a positive direction, it might have been an effect from the North Asia market, where rates moved up rapidly this week, and it seems to transfer into next week. The MED market remains strong, and it attracted some ballasters from the northern parts of Europe.
TIME CHARTER MARKET:
The period market was stable this week, we made some downward adjustments to the 1–year firm period for non–eco tonnage where only the MR segment saw a gain, however, even though we saw a few crude tanker fixtures below last done, the market still acts firm, and we saw majors committing to 2 year periods at strong levels.
Newbulidings:
Newbuilding yards were busy this week, especially on the product and chemical side. We understand that one LR2 115k DWT was contracted at Hyundai Vinashin with delivery in Q1 2026. Furthermore, a total of 4 MRs were
ordered at Hyundai Mipo by Nissen Kaiun, supposedly all MRs are going to be delivered within 2025. On the chemical side, it was reported that Union Maritime ordered 4+4 18.5k DWT Chemical tankers from Mawei Shipbuilding with the delivery of the first 4 within 2025.
Finally, it was confirmed that SC Shipping ordered 2 Stainless tankers at CSSC Wuchang this week.
RECYCLING
Recycling prices are moving upwards in the Sub–continent as we saw a nice increase in prices from India, however, Turkey remains flat and targets $/LDT 10 lower than the week prior. There were no tanker recyclings recorded this week
