shipping Archives — blkcommodities.com

BLK Shipping – Shipping Rates Updates

14 SEPTEMBER 2021

Welcome to BLK Shipping, our regular update from the shipping market. In this issue, we’ll be covering:

Wet Cargo
Dry Cargo
Containers
Gas

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Wet Cargo

The increasing price of crude oil has been driving the tankers’ charter rates up throughout July, although this has now slowed down and we are seeing a further downward trend in rates.

VLCC – Very Large Crude Carriers remained pretty much stable. Although we’re still unbelievably far from 2019 levels, we can now see positive signs of pick-up. Outlook: Stable

Suezmax – rates remained still, apart for a few routes where we saw a near 100% growth. As the oil price stabilises, we expect that the vessel charter rates will go with it. Outlook: Stable

Aframax – afra rates more lost ground, with a general weakening across most routes. Outlook: Stable

Dirty Products – Relatively busy in the Mediterranean, whilst supply and demand remaining weak in all other regions. Outlook: Stable.

Clean Products – Charter rates weakened across the board with some routes losing over 70% WoW.. Outlook: Stable

MR – uptake in demand did not have the expected positive effects on MR rates, owing to the oversupply of carrying capacity in the market. Outlook: Stable

LR1 – demand for log-range tankers fell in the last few weeks. Outlook: Stable

LR2 – Good rally for LR2 tankers, up to 20% surge in a week. Outlook: Positive

Handy – Handy earnings bounced back up above $7000/day and it looks like the beginning of a positive performance. Outlook: Stable

Dirty Panamax – Rates continued softening very slightly on all routes, with a general 1% – 5% drop since last week. Outlook: Stable

Dry Cargo

Slow-down on most routes and across all segments, although bulkers remain pretty strong compared to 2019 and 2020 performance.

Capesize – Capes declined between 5 to 20%, having broken through the $40k/day for the first time in years and now travelling on $41k+/day for scrubber-fitted vessels. Outlook: Stable

Panamax – Still another good week for the panamaxes, although slightly in decline compared to the last week of August. Outlook: Stable

Supramax – Supramaxes lost ground in recent days, after climbing steadily over the course of 2021. The second half of August and early September saw a reduction of 4-7% to settle on an average of $35k/day Outlook: Stable

Handysize – the biggest fluctuations happened within the Handy market. Still high after a strong July-August rally, now it fell slightly to $32k+/day mark. Outlook: Stable

Container

Container rates seem unstoppable, with 4400 TEU vessels now nearing the $100k/day mark themselves. Neo-panamax vessels are now close to the $145k/day mark, with a significant impact on the economy of most western countries coming out of the pandemic.

On the raw materials side, however, and especially in chemical commodities, the high freight rates (now looking upwards of $20,000 per TEU on the route China – Europe) now impact prices of goods to the extent that it is equivalent or cheaper to source from European suppliers.

We expect to see a continual decrease in smaller-batches shipments westbound from Asia to Europe, hopefully accompanied by a subsequent easing of the TEU rates towards the end of the year.

Outlook: Positive

Gas

Rates for Gas Carriers remained declined slightly, with the biggest hit suffered by for large carriers 145,000 m3 and above. Pressurized and semi-pressurized vessel rates remained constant.

This was expected as plenty of tonnage was tied-up in dock for ballast water treatment systems installation and is now slowly coming back into the market, increasing overall supply. Outlook: Stable

To learn more about how we can support your business shipping as cheaply and environmentally-friendly as possible, visit us at BLK. Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up-to-date with our weekly shipping updates.

BLK Shipping Weekly – Shipping Rates Updates

16 JULY 2021

Welcome to BLK Shipping Weekly, our Shipping Rates Updates. In this issue, we’ll be covering:

Wet Cargo
Dry Cargo
Containers
Gas

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up-to-date with our Shipping Weekly and follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn to never miss an update.

Curious of how the shipping rates evolved? Check out our previous article.

Wet Cargo

The increasing price of crude oil has been driving the tankers’ charter rates up throughout July, although this has now slowed down and we are seeing a stabilisation of the tanker rates.

VLCC – Very Large Crude Carriers remained pretty much stable. Although we’re still unbelievably far from 2019 levels, we can now see positive signs of pick-up. Outlook: Stable

Suezmax – rates remained still, apart for a few routes where we saw a near 100% growth. As the oil price stabilises, we expect that the vessel charter rates will go with it. Outlook: Stable

Aframax – afra rates more lost ground, with a general weakening across most routes. Outlook: Stable

Dirty Products – July continued to be busy in the Mediterranean, whilst remained weak in the US Gulf. Outlook: Stable.

Clean Products – Charter rates strengthened across the board primarily driven by the increase of fuel prices and re-opening of most countries in Europe and North America. Outlook: Positive

MR – uptake in demand did not have the expected positive effects on MR rates, owing to the oversupply of carrying capacity in the market. Not huge gains for MRs although a general positive feeling in the market. Outlook: Stable

LR1 – demand for log-range tankers grew significantly. Further climb looks likely as demand for refined products on each side of the Atlantic grows. Outlook: Positive

LR2 – Strong rally for LR2 tankers, up to 160% surge in a week. Outlook: Positive

Handy – Handy earnings slipped below $3000/day as the larger size vessels rallied. Outlook: Stable

Dirty Panamax – Rates continued softening very slightly on all routes, with a general 1% – 5% drop since last week. Outlook: Stable

Dry Cargo

Slow-down on most routes and across all segments, with the exception of handy bulkers.

Capesize – Capes declined between 9 to 15%, having broken through the $30k/day for the first time in years and now finding resistance to a further growth they are now back in the $23k region. Outlook: Stable

Panamax – slight decrease in demand impacted negatively the charter rates, with an average reduction of 10%. Hold availability shortage played a major role, in off-setting a larger fall, with average rates just below $30k. Outlook: Stable

Supramax – Supramaxes lost ground in recent days, after climbing steadily over the course of 2021. The second half of July saw a reduction of 4-7% to settle on an average of $26k/day Outlook: Stable

Handysize – rates continued their upward trend breaking past the $30k/day mark. Outlook: Positive

Container

Container rates did not slow down in July with further increases up to 75% past $100k/day mark for Neo-panamax vessels. As container liners keep stashing cash on the back of the strongest year on record, we are seeing the newbuilding order book starting to fill-up for the year ahead.

We are now seeing more ship owners ordering new tonnage, predominantly ultra-large carriers, LNG fuelled like CMA CGM or methanol-propelled, like Maersk.

More, new carrying capacity is set to enter the market, which should contribute to the softening of the rates. The entrance in service of these vessels is, however, still many months away and demand for containers still looks strong.

On the raw materials side, however, and especially in chemical commodities, the high freight rates (now looking upwards of $18,000 per TEU on the route China – Europe) now impact prices of goods to the extent that it is equivalent or cheaper to source from European suppliers.

We expect to see a continual decrease in smaller-batches shipments westbound from Asia to Europe, hopefully accompanied by a subsequent easing of the TEU rates towards the end of the year.

Outlook: Positive

Gas

Rates for Gas Carriers declined slightly, with the biggest hit suffered by for large carriers 145,000 m3 and above. Pressurized and semi-pressurized vessel rates remained constant.

To learn more about how we can support your business shipping as cheaply and environmentally-friendly as possible, visit us at BLK.

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BLK Shipping Weekly – Shipping Rates Updates

04 JULY 2021

Welcome to BLK Shipping Weekly, our update from the shipping market. In this issue, we’ll be covering:

Wet Cargo
Dry Cargo
Containers
Gas

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up-to-date with our Shipping Weekly and follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn to never miss an update.

Wet Cargo

The increasing price of crude oil has been driving the tankers’ charter rates up, with significant boom this week, especially for the Black Sea – Med routes. The barrel price above $75, caused 500%+ surges specifically on the medium-sized parcels.

VLCC – Very Large Crude Carriers rallied 100% WoW, growing with the positive sentiment around oil price. The Spot rates pretty much doubled, from $600/day to $1200/day. Although we’re still unbelievably far from 2019 levels, we can now see positive signs of pick-up. Outlook: Stable

Suezmax – rates boomed, growing on average 30% WoW, with some routes seeing a 5 times increase. As the oil price keeps surging, we expect a positive impact on the vessel charter rates coing forward. Outlook: Positive

Aframax – afra rates more than doubled on the back of the positive oil prices news last week. Current rates fixed above $10600/day. Outlook: Positive

Dirty Products – July began with a relatively stable outlook, particularly busy in the Mediterranean, particularly weak in the US Gulf. Outlook: Stable.

Clean Products – Charter rates weakened between 3 to 60% owing to the fact that most world refineries are still operating under capacity due to the low demand for refined fuels. With airlines still down and road traffic at a fraction of the pre-pandemic levels the market remains far from its best shape. Plenty of carrying capacity available on the main routes contributes to weakening the outlook. Outlook: Stable

MR – uptake in demand did not have the expected positive effects on MR rate, owing to the oversupply of carrying capacity in the market. Overall down on average 25%, settling at $3800/day.. Outlook: Stable

LR1 – demand for log-range tankers remains low. Slow pick-up is possible depending on the easing of lockdowns and demand for refined products on each side of the Atlantic. Outlook: Stable

LR2 – In general, the market remains down between 3% and 5%. Slightly better than the previous week, although far from 2020 peak performance. Outlook: Stable

Handy – As anticipated last week, with LR and MR tanker rates below those of Handy tankers, charterers have been shifting to larger vessel sizes, wherever possible. This led to a hit in the region of 10% to Handy rates, with an additional slight drop still possible until break even or below is reached. Currently at $3800/day. Outlook: Stable

Dirty Panamax – Rates continued softening slightly on all routes, with a general 15% drop since last week, among fears of a new COVID wave due to the delta variant. Outlook: Stable

Dry Cargo

General pick-up on all routes and across all segments, underpinning a strong market sentiment, driven by the increasing demand for raw materials.

Capesize – Capes remained relatively stable, having broken through the $30k/day for the first time in years and now finding resistance to a further growth. Outlook: Stable

Panamax – slight increase in demand impacted positively the charter rates, with another 7% weekly growth. Hold availability shortage played a major role, with charter rates now surpassing $3500/day on certain routes. Outlook: Stable

Supramax – rates climbing steadily over the course of 2021 and stabilised in May to pick-up again more aggressively in June, with a 20% average growth WoW. The first days of July saw a stabilisation of this trend, with a flatter growth curve, rising by an average of 7% WoW to settle on an average of $27k/day Outlook: Positive

Handysize – rates continued their upward trend breaking past the $27k/day mark. Outlook: Positive

Container

Container rates did not slow down starting July with a further 5-6% increase. Now nearing the $100k/day mark for Neo-panamax vessels too. As container liners keep stashing cash on the back of the strongest year on record, we are seeing the newbuilding order book starting to fill-up for the year ahead.

We are now seeing more ship owners ordering new tonnage, predominantly ultra-large carriers, LNG fuelled like CMA CGM or methanol-propelled, like Maersk.

On the raw materials side, however, and especially in chemical commodities, the high freight rates (now looking upwards of $15,500 per TEU on the route China – Europe) now impact prices of goods to the extent that it is equivalent or cheaper to source from European suppliers.

We expect to see a continual decrease in smaller-batches shipments westbound from Asia to Europe, hopefully accompanied by a subsequent easing of the TEU rates towards the end of the year.

Air cargo is now cheaper than ocean freight for smaller parcels, are we on the tipping point for this huge container rally?

Outlook: Positive

Gas

Rates for Gas Carriers remained relatively stable, with a small growth for large carriers. Pressurized and semi-pressurized vessel rates remained constant.

As plenty of tonnage is currently tied-up in dock for ballast water treatment systems installation, we are to expect a softening of the rates next month, as the ships come back into the market.
Outlook: Stable

To learn more about how we can support your business shipping as cheaply and environmentally-friendly as possible, visit us at BLK.

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up-to-date with our weekly shipping updates.

Shipping rates updates

Every Friday on BLK.

BLK Shipping Weekly – Shipping Rates Updates

25 June 2021

Welcome to BLK Shipping Weekly, our regular shipping rates updates. In this issue, we’ll be covering:

Wet Cargo
Dry Cargo
Containers
Gas

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up-to-date with our Shipping Weekly and follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn to never miss an update.

Wet Cargo

Charter rates down, on all fronts, although we seem to be scraping the bottom of the barrel, with owners’ resistance to further drops, leading to a no deal on a growing number of fixtures.

VLCC – It was another bad week for VLCCs, with most routes commanding negative charter rates. Very good news for shippers, especially those looking at cross-Atlantic routes. List of uncharted vessels remain high, with supply overpowering demand. Owners are now starting to turn down cargoes, in a bid to drive charter rates back up. Avg. VLCCs rate at $601, underpinning the large tonnage oversupply. If you can, ship now. Outlook: Negative

Suezmax – rates still suffering from the oversupply of tonnage in the market but made a slight recovery WoW. Rates now surpassing those of VLCCs, just below the $2500 per day mark. Outlook: Stable

Aframax – afra rates saw drops between 4 and 11%, with the exception of Mediterranean Routes, which saw a whopping +144% growth WoW. Avg. charter rates stable at $4900/day. Outlook: Stable

Dirty Products – the slow decline in rates continued, primarily driven by the low availability of tonnage in the Mediterraneand and Baltic. Charter rates fall slowed down compared to the previous week, shrinking only between 3% and 28% Outlook: Stable.

Clean Products – Charter rates weakened between 2 to 40% owing to the fact that most world refineries are still operating under capacity due to the low demand for refined fuels. With airlines still down and road traffic at a fraction of the pre-pandemic levels the market remains far from its best shape. Plenty of carrying capacity available on the main routes contributes to weakening the outlook. Outlook: Stable

MR – uptake in demand drove rates up, with a positive outlook for the weeks ahead. Outlook: Positive

LR1 – demand for log-range tankers remains low. Slow pick-up is possible depending on the easing of lockdowns and demand for refined products on each side of the Atlantic. Outlook: Stable

LR2 – In general, the market remains down between 12% and 22%. Outlook: Negative

Handy – Slow pick-up is possible subject to the easing of lockdowns and demand for refined products on each side of the Atlantic. LR and MR tanker rates, however, are now below those of Handy tankers, meaning that charterers will likely shift to larger vessel sizes, wherever possible. Therefore, we should expect a further drop in Handy rates. Outlook: Negative

Dirty Panamax – Rates softened everywhere, among fears of a new COVID wave due to the delta variant. Outlook: Stable

Dry Cargo

General pick-up on all routes and across all segments, underpinning a strong market sentiment, driven by the increasing demand for raw materials.

Capesize – Uptake in charter rates picked up, with nearly $5000 growth WoW, which pushed the Cape rates beyond $30k/day for the first time in years. Outlook: Positive

Panamax – stable demand which impacted positively the charter rates, with a 7% weekly growth. Hold availability shortage played a major role, with charter rates now nearing $30500/day Outlook: Stable

Supramax – rates climbing steadily over the course of 2021 and stabilised in May to pick-up again more aggressively in June, with a 20% average growth WoW. Outlook: Positive

Handysize – rates remained stable without much movement from the previous weeks. Fixed around the $24k/day mark. Outlook: Stable

Container

Container rates continue with their strong rally, with ultra-large container carriers breaking through $100k/day for the first time in history.

As container liners keep stashing cash on the back of the strongest year on record, we are seeing the newbuilding order book starting to fill-up for the year ahead. This week Hapag Lloyd announced the order for 12 Ultra-large 23,500 TEU vessels. We expect other liners to soon follow-suit, booking yards for LNG-fuelled vessels.

Positive news for shippers, with new carrying capacity entering the market, which should contribute to the softening of the rates. The entrance in service of these vessels is, however, still many months away and demand for container still looks strong.

Rising inflation in post-lockdown economy may contribute to ease the demand for finished goods but it remains to be seen whether this will be permanent or, as the Bank of England predicts, only temporary. In the latter case, we’re in for a long winter of very expensive shipping from Asia with final consumers paying the ultimate price.

On the raw materials side, however, and especially in chemical commodities, the high freight rates (now looking upwards of $12,500 per TEU on the route China – Europe) now impact prices of goods to the extent that it is equivalent or cheaper to source from European suppliers.

We expect to see a continual decrease in smaller-batches shipments westbound from Asia to Europe, hopefully accompanied by a subsequent easing of the TEU rates towards the end of the year.

Air cargo is now cheaper than ocean freight for smaller parcels, are we on the tipping point for this huge container rally?

Outlook: Positive

Gas

Shipping rates updates for Gas Carriers are not significant. Stable WoW, with a slight 9% recover for large carriers rates. Pressurized and semi-pressurized vessel rates remained unchanged.

As plenty of tonnage is currently tied-up in dock for ballast water treatment systems installation, we are to expect a further softening of the rates next month, as the ships come back into the market.
Outlook: Stable

To learn more about how we can support your business shipping as cheaply and environmentally-friendly as possible, visit us at BLK.

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up-to-date with our weekly shipping updates.

Shipping rates updates

Every Friday on BLK.

BLK Shipping Weekly – Shipping Market Rates Updates

Welcome to BLK Shipping Weekly, our Friday’s update from the shipping market. In this issue, we’ll be covering:

Wet Cargo
Dry Cargo
Containers
Gas

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up-to-date with our Shipping Weekly and follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn to never miss an update.

Wet Cargo

Charter rates stabilising, on all trades in view of the demand uplift in June, driven by easing of lockdowns in UK and Europe and roll-out of vaccination programmes in the western countries. These factors are expected to drive energy demand up and cargo with it, increasing the overall demand for tonnage and hold space. With the winter months ahead of us, rates can be expected to start picking up for the rest of the year.

VLCC – the beginning of June is looking still quiet, with some softening of rates across the Atlantic, counterbalanced stronger performance in the Pacific. Outlook: Stable

Suezmax – rates still suffering from the oversupply of tonnage in the market. Relatively stable trend on all routes, with supply and demand nearly balanced. Outlook: Stable

Aframax – relatively stable rates, with demand for hold space still counterbalanced by relatively large supply of tonnage. Most cargoes are fixed far in advance and therefore no significant movements are expected. Outlook: Stable

Dirty Products – rates continue picking up, primarily driven by the low availability of tonnage in the Mediterranean and Baltic. Outlook: Positive

Clean Products – weaker rates compared to may, owing to the fact that most world refineries are still operating under capacity due to the low demand for refined fuels. With airlines still down and road traffic at a fraction of the pre-pandemic levels the market remains weak. Outlook: Negative

MR – overall performance weakened, with charterers going for long range tankers for the same routes as a reasonable alternative to MR.. Outlook: Negative

LR1 – demand for log-range tankers picking up, as their rates closed in with those of the MRs and are now being seen as a suitable alternative Outlook: Stable

LR2 – Tonnage availability came back into the market, weakening the rates. Outlook: Negative

Handy – Slow pick-up is possible depending on the easing of lockdowns and demand for refined products on each side of the Atlantic. Outlook: Stable

Dirty Panamax – Rates on the rise, looking positive to the summer, when investors anticipate a further increase of energy requirements from western nations. Further rise driven by reduction in tonnage offering especially in the Mediterranean. Outlook: Positive

Dry Cargo

Capesize – Relatively slow declining trend, with spot demand weakened slightly in western regions due to summer holidays approaching. Outlook: Negative

Panamax – stable demand does not lead to expected growth in rates going forward. Tendency to slightly weaken counterbalanced by the hold availability shortage. Outlook: Stable

Supramax – rates climbing steadily over the course of 2021 and stabilised in may with no real surge expected. Outlook: Stable

Handysize – rates rising WoW, primarily driven by grain, coal and cement trade in the APAC region. Port congestions in Indonesia strengthened the growth, which looks positive overall for owners. Outlook: Positive

Container

Container rates continue with their strong rally on all fronts, although the curve seems to be flattening a little bit. Demand looks strong and will continue to be as western economies get out of lockdowns and people shop around for finished goods, using up the savings gathered during the pandemic. At the same time, a large share of ships is out of service for dry dockings and BWTSs installations for the compliance with the Ballast Water Management Convention. It seems that the IMO’s exercise of forcing the BMW Convention on to owners to reduce the overall supply of carrying capacity and support rates shooting up has worked its charm, with many vessels being scrapped simply because the cost of the system installation was uneconomical.

We’re expecting to see a stabilisation to this trend as more vessels come out od dry docks and resume normal operations, coupled with the effect of inflation – which is going to off-set the buying craze and put a lid on overall demand.

Outlook: Positive

Gas

Rates for Large Gas Carriers continued to decline between 4% to 6%, with cargo cancellations being the primary causes, resulting in oversupply of carrying capacity in all main routes. Pressurized and semi-pressurized vessel rates remained unchanged.

To learn more about how we can support your business shipping as cheaply and environmentally-friendly as possible, visit us at BLK.

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up-to-date with our weekly shipping updates.

BLK Shipping Weekly – Shipping Market Rates Updates

Welcome to BLK Shipping Weekly, our Friday’s update from the shipping market. In this issue, we’ll be covering:

Wet Cargo
Dry Cargo
Containers
Gas

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up-to-date with our Shipping Weekly and follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn to never miss an update.

Wet Cargo

Charter rates stabilising, pretty much on all trades in view of the demand uplift in June, driven by easing of lockdowns in UK and Europe and roll-out of vaccination programmes in the western countries. These factors are expected to drive energy demand up and cargo with it, increasing the overall demand for tonnage and hold space. With the winter months ahead of us, rates can be expected to start picking up for the rest of the year.

VLCC – rates grew fdue to the positive sentiment given by the possibility of US lifting sanctions on Iran. Outlook: Positive

Suezmax – rates still suffering from the oversupply of tonnage in the market. Relatively stable trend on all routes, with supply and demand nearly balanced. Outlook: Stable

Aframax – relatively stable rates, with demand for hold space still counterbalanced by relatively large supply of tonnage. Outlook: Stable

Dirty Products – stronger rates, primarily driven by the low availability of tonnage ub the Mediterraneand and Baltic. Outlook: Positive

Clean Products – weak to stable rates, owing to the fact that most world refineries are still operating under capacity due to the low demand for refined fuels. With airlines still down and road traffic at a fraction of the pre-pandemic levels the market remains weak. Outlook: Stable

MR – uptake in demand drove rates up, with a positive outlook for the weeks ahead. Outlook: Positive

LR1 – demand for log-range tankers remains low. Slow pick-up is possible depending on the easing of lockdowns and demand for refined products on each side of the Atlantic. Outlook: Stable

LR2 – Tonnage availability declined with a subsequent strengthening of the rates. Outlook: Positive

Handy – Slow pick-up is possible depending on the easing of lockdowns and demand for refined products on each side of the Atlantic. Gloomier in SEA. Outlook: Stable

Dirty Panamax – Rates on the rise, looking positive to the summer, when investors anticipate a further increase of energy requirements from western nations. Further raise driven by reduction in tonnage offering especially in the Mediterranean. Outlook: Positive

Dry Cargo

Capesize – Relatively slow uptake in rate growth, with spot demand weakened slightly in western regions due to summer holidays approaching. Outlook: Stable

Panamax – stable demand does not lead to expect a growth in rates going forward. Tendency to slightly weaken counterbalanced by the hold availability shortage. Outlook: Stable

Supramax – rates climbing steadily over the course of 2021 and stabilised in may with no real surge expected. Outlook: Stable

Handysize – rates climbing steadily WoW, primarily driven by grain, coal and cement trade in the APAC region. Outlook: Positive

Container

We’re expecting to see a brake to this trend, however, with the effect of inflation – which is going to off-set the buying craze and put a lid on overall demand.

Apart fo the sharper Feeder 1700 TEU growth of 4% WoW, all other rates seem to be slowing down their rate of growth and we are hopeful we will see the trend reversing before the end of the year.

Outlook: Positive

Gas

Rates for Large Gas Carriers slumped 14% and 21% for 145k and 160k m3 LNGs respectively. Cargo cancellations were the primary causes, resulting in oversupply of carrying capacity in all main routes. Pressurized and semi-pressurized vessel rates remained unchanged.

To learn more about how we can support your business shipping as cheaply and environmentally-friendly as possible, visit us at BLK.

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up-to-date with our weekly shipping updates.

BLK Shipping Weekly – Shipping Market Rates Updates

Welcome to BLK Shipping Weekly, our Friday’s update from the shipping market. In this issue, we’ll be covering:

Wet Cargo
Dry Cargo
Containers
Gas

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up-to-date with our Shipping Weekly and follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn to never miss an update.

Wet Cargo

Charter rates appear to be stabilising, especially in view of the demand uplift in June, driven by easing of lockdowns in UK and Europe and roll-out of vaccination programmes in the western countries. These factors are expected to drive energy demand up and cargo with it, increasing the overall demand for tonnage and hold space.

With the winter months ahead of us, rates can be expected to start picking up for the rest of the year.

VLCC – rates fell from the all-time high in April 2020 and continued sliding. Outlook: Stable

Suezmax – rates still suffering from the oversupply of tonnage in the market. Downward trend on all routes, meaning good news for shippers. Outlook: Negative

Aframax – relatively stable rates, with demand for hold space still counterbalanced by relatively large supply of tonnage. Outlook: Stable

Dirty Products – stronger rates, primarily driven by a mini-surge in demand for MR tanker tonnage, especially on atlantic routes.

Clean Products – weak rates, owing to the fact that most world refineries are still operating under capacity due to the low demand for refined fuels. With airlines still down and road traffic at a fraction of the pre-pandemic levels, the market remains weak.

MR – uptake in demand drove rates up, with a positive outlook for the weeks ahead. Outlook: Positive

LR1 – demand for log-range tankers remains low. Slow pick-up is possible depending on the easing of lockdowns and demand for refined products on each side of the Atlantic. Outlook: Stable

LR2 – demand for log-range tankers remains low. Slow pick-up is possible depending on the easing of lockdowns and demand for refined products on each side of the Atlantic. Outlook: Negative

Handy – Slow pick-up is possible depending on the easing of lockdowns and demand for refined products on each side of the Atlantic. Gloomier in SEA. Outlook: Stable

Dirty Panamax – Rates on the rise, looking positive to the summer, when investors anticipate a further increase of energy requirements from western nations. Outlook: Positive

Dry Cargo

Capesize – rates climbing steadily over the course of 2021, although the spot demand weakened in western regions due to summer holidays approaching. Outlook: Stable

Panamax – stable demand does not lead to expect a growth in rates going forward. Outlook: Stable

Supramax – rates climbing steadily over the course of 2021, although the spot demand weakened in western regions due to summer holidays approaching. Outlook: Stable

Handysize – rates climbing steadily WoW, primarily driven by demand for raw materials in China. Outlook: Positive

Container

Container rates surge continues unhindered on all fronts, with rates up from 100% to 163% compared to pre-pandemic levels. Demand looks strong and will continue to be as western economies get out of lockdowns and people shop around for finished goods, using up the savings gathered during the pandemic.

We’re expecting to see a brake to this trend, however, with the effect of inflation, which is going to off-set the buying craze and put a lid on overall demand.

Inflation in the UK has doubled MoM, hitting 1.5% in April, and it will continue rising. Same goes for the US, where prices surged 4.2%, up from 2.6% in March and the EU, with inflation currently at 1.6%. As some central banks work to put a brake on inflation by upping base rates, increase in consumer prices may hamper demand after the summer.

We are therefore likely to see a stabilisation or decline of container rates as we progress into Q3 2021.

Outlook: Positive

Gas

Rates for Large Gas Carriers picked up globally, supported primarily by the low availability for suitable tonnage in the Asia-Pacific regions.

As plenty of tonnage is currently tied-up in dock for ballast water treatment systems installation, we are to expect a general softening of the rates next month, as the ships come back into the market.

Outlook: Stable

To learn more about how we can support your business shipping as cheaply and environmentally-friendly as possible, visit us at BLK.

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up-to-date with our Shipping Weekly and follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn to never miss an update.