U.S. Gulf-to-Far East also fell foul of timing, although in this case most ships had already reached capacity, and there were only a few small pockets of space that proved hard to fill. Again, October is more promising, with larger enquiries of MTBE, ethylene dichloride, benzene/toluene/xylene, acetone and phenol to Asia.

Owners freight ideas are increasing with the tempo of this market, and we have heard offers of $75/t for 5,000 ton cargoes of easy chemicals from Houston to main Far East ports, compared to rates around $50/t that are currently being achieved. There is an element of wishful thinking perhaps, but first-half October space is tight on this route, with most ships only showing up with second-half October space, so it does depend rather on how much material needs to be shipped in the first week or two as to how freights will eventually end up.

U.S. Gulf-to-Caribbean trade is a bit busier, with caustic, styrene, methanol and vegetable oil cargoes seen. U.S. Gulf to the east coast of South America looks snug for the next week or two. So far, rates are unchanged on both of these routes.

Europe
We feel that there are slightly fewer ships that are completely idle in Europe this week, but it will make little difference to freight rates as there is still a large number that remain unemployed.

The North Sea and Baltic had a quiet week, as did the southbound route into the Mediterranean. Benchmark rates remain unchanged, with 2,000 tons of easy chemicals from Rotterdam to Marmara going in the low $60s/t.

Northbound from the Mediterranean did not yield any surprises, maintaining a steady, if sluggish pace. Inter-Med routes are clogged with open ships again, and rates are under a great deal of pressure.

Transatlantic westbound has been unexciting. Most attempts to ship gasoline components into the U.S. Gulf have failed, and enquiries to ship pyrolysis gasoline did not come to anything. European caustic supplies have unfortunately dried up, just as demand from the Americas improves. Rates for 5,000 ton cargoes from Rotterdam to Houston remain in the low $30s/t.

Europe-to-Far East produced only a handful of enquiries this week, most of which were for small parcels below 2,000 tons. The majority of ships are full, however, until around mid-October, so the fear of lower freights has been allayed for now.

Asia
A select number of cargoes have been assembled following the mid-Autumn holiday in Asia, but with another week-long holiday about to commence, the immediate prospects are not favourable. Once October opens out, however, we expect to see China back in the thick of it again with imports of benzene/toluene/xylene and styrene.

Export business from Asia has been going reasonably well, with large cargoes of sulphuric acid and caustic quoted into the Americas. Palm oil business to Europe and the Americas is satisfactory, as is the market into China.

Indian demand for edible oils is holding, although some traders suggest stocks in India are getting close to being full. Berth congestion and port delays in some Indian ports such as Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust near Mumbai are becoming alarming, with ships waiting 10 to 11 days to load there.

Traffic out of the Middle East is buoyant, and freight rates are very firm. An 11,000 ton cargo of MTBE from Qatar to two ports in Greece paid low-to-mid $60s/t, while 18,000 to 20,000 tons of caustic from Al Jubail to Conakry went for a rate above $70/t. Large cargoes of methanol, MTBE and paraxylene are being quoted eastbound to Asia, with fixtures reported in the low $50s/t for 15,000 ton cargoes from the Middle East Gulf to mid-China.

Adrian Brown is senior market analyst for chemicals and base oils with SSY Shipbrokers, London. Information about SSY can be found at www.ssyonline.com. Adrian Brown, in the U.K., can be reached directly at research@ssy.co.uk or by phone at +44 1207-507507. In the U.S., SSYs Steve Rosenthal can be reached at fix@ssychems.com or +1 203-961-1566.