It also happens to be one of the routes that are tightest on vessel space, with hardly any tonnage available through the first half of November. Those vessels that can consider going in that direction have been asking for rates in the mid $60s per metric ton, whether for 5,000, 10,000 or 15,000 ton quantities.

Owners are trying to achieve these levels for the second half of November too, but freights are reaching a level that could encourage outsiders on berth. We are also seeing a tendency for charterers to maximize the size of cargo, and once the volumes get above 20,000 tons, then owners will consider ballasting their ships into the U.S. Gulf from other regions.

U.S. Gulf to east coast South America is also recording firm freight numbers for first half November shipments thanks to a shortage of available space. Owners report fixing 10,000 tons of base oils from Houston to Rio at $56 to $57/t, for example. Transatlantic eastbound is stable to firm.

Owners report seeing more demand for products such as ethanol, caustic and styrene, but there is still some space open in the first half of November, and some of the enquiries are not yet firm. It seems that freight costs are hovering still around $47 to $50/t for 5,000 ton lots from Houston to Antwerp-Rotterdam-Amsterdam.

Other areas such as Gulf-to-Caribbean and Gulf-to-India are stable for now, but since any surplus tonnage could easily be switched onto one of the more active routes it would not take too much to cause these routes to tighten and firm as well.

Europe
Intra-European markets saw a bit more activity this week, especially on oil products such as ultra-low sulfur diesel and gas oil in the North Sea and Baltic, but also some chemical grades such as ethanol and biodiesel.

Overall, however, rates on the majority of intra-European routes have been weak, which is not surprising given the huge overcapacity of tonnage open in the region. There seems to be no avenue of escape either. Transatlantic westbound is soft, with very little demand.

Some cargoes of pyrolysis gasoline, caustic, reformate, paraxylene and base oils have been bounced around, but not many are being booked. Numbers work out at around $29/t now for 5,000 ton parcels of easy chemicals from Rotterdam to U.S. Atlantic Coast. Europe-to-Far East is lackluster.

A couple of traders were toying with sending paraxylene to Asia instead of to the United States, and some have looked at MTBE, acetone and phenol, but few cargoes are firming up, and there is still space. At least some base oils have managed to fix, with 10,000 tons booked Black Sea-to-Indonesia. Base oils are also fairly active into Nigeria right now, with a bunch of ships fixed from the Baltic and the Mediterranean.

Asia
Domestic Asian chemical markets have been producing a steady stream of requirements, although many of the enquiries are for lifting later in November. There are also perhaps more prompt open ships than previously, which may be because of plant turnarounds and hence a shortage of local material to be moved. Rates have not softened, however.

Export business is doing rather well, with substantial cargoes of benzene moving to the U.S. Gulf. Rates are unexceptional however, with levels of around $50 to $52/t being done for 10,000 ton cargoes from Korea.

Loading from unscheduled ports soon boosts that levels, and it is possible to see $60s and $70s/t being done for cargoes to the U.S. Gulf out of China for example. Shipments of sulphuric acid are also busy and absorbing most of the stainless chemical fleet. Palm oils are rather active into the Indian Ocean as well as some cargoes to northeast Asia.

Destinations such as the Black Sea too are taking a number of ships, the rates for which are in the low to mid $70s/t based on 12,000 to 15,000 ton cargoes from the Malacca Straits. The Middle East Gulf and India region is a bit more subdued.

Some production sites are not running, added to which there is a greater number of ships inbound into the region with vegetable oil, phosphoric acid, ethanol and pyrolysis gasoline. Westbound rates are perhaps unchanged, but levels to the Far East have declined slightly.

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.