Routes from the U.S. Gulf to the east coast of South America are also busy, and most scheduled carriers are full for the month. Cargo enquiries include yet more styrene and caustic.

Transatlantic eastbound continues to see a flow of aromatics, though perhaps slightly fewer requirements than in previous weeks. Space in general is pretty well booked and some owners are seeking levels of $50/ton for 5,000 ton lots from Houston to Antwerp-Rotterdam-Amsterdam. However, not all owners are willing to risk jeopardising the flow of cargoes by asking for higher freights. Indeed, some have gone the other way and are willing to accept numbers closer to the mid $40s/t in order to fill up all available space.

U.S. Gulf-to-Far East may not be so inundated with cargo enquiries this week since charterers have realised that there is not a constant supply of cheap, readily available ships in the U.S. Gulf, and have reined back on the level of enquiry. We still see plenty of benzene/toluene/xylene and styrene, as well as quotations for phenol, acetone, ethanol and base oils to Asia, but volumes are lower. Rates meanwhile have risen, and a 5,000 ton cargo from the Gulf to China could easily cost close to $90/t. December space is tight for the first part of the month, but it may be that space opens up later in the month.

Europe
Major disruption to traffic in the North Sea and Biscay was caused by strong winds during the week, but a lack of spot cargoes meant that freights remained weak nonetheless.

Southbound into the Mediterranean has been fairly busy, including some base oil enquiries to Egypt in response to the purchase tender there. Northbound has been fairly active too, with pyrolysis gasoline, styrene and even some biodiesel cargoes out of Spain. Freights have been unchanged in both directions however. Inter-Mediterranean business has been slack, especially for ships over 10,000 dwt.

Transatlantic westbound is not exactly busy, but there have been some benzene and pyrolysis gasoline fixtures, as well as caustic, urea ammonia nitrate, hydrocracker bottoms and some base oils. Rates are weak, with 5,000 ton lots from Rotterdam to Houston costing in the very low $30s/t.

Europe-to-Far East is becoming a bit busier, with several larger cargoes fixed, such as MTBE, ethylene dichloride, styrene and acrylonitrile. A large lot of base oils was also booked. Freight levels are still soft, especially for November loading. A 5,000 ton parcel from Rotterdam to main Far East ports can be booked in the high $60s/t, but this figure may slide back up to the low $70s/t, depending upon how many of these requirements firm up and take away the available space.

Europe-to-India freights are weak, especially for cargoes loading from the Mediterranean. From the Mediterranean to Jebel Ali, 10,000 ton lots of pyrolysis gasoline are claimed to have paid under $40/t, and several ships are known to have ballasted through Suez to Yanbu and Adabiya to pick up benzene and sulphuric acid cargoes back into the Med.

Asia
Domestic routes within Asia have been fairly busy. Benzene has been actively traded into Taiwan, and toluene, styrene and xylene cargoes have been directed into China. Xylene is also being shipped southbound into Sourtheast Asia, along with some base oils from Dalian. Northbound sees acetone, phenol and orthoxylene quoted. Inter-southeast Asia is calm, with base oils, acetic acid and butanols quoted.

Deep-sea export business is running fairly well, with yet more sulphuric acid quoted from Southeast Asia to South America, as well as some big lots of caustic to the United States. Rates are firm, with 11,000 to 12,000 tons of caustic from China to the U.S. Atlantic coast fetching in the high $70s/t. Palm oil traffic is steady into India and China, and thanks to prices that manage to stay below those of soft oils originating from South America, demand is still fairly robust on cargoes to Europe and the United States.

Within the Middle East Gulf-India region, space remains tight for westbound cargoes, especially those small lots to unscheduled ports in the Mediterranean. A 3,000 ton cargo of glycols was heard fixed from Iran to the Adriatic at $130/t for instance. There are some base oils trying to fix from Iran and Karachi to Turkey, but lack of available space at freights that appeal to the charterers has meant the enquiries have been pushed back into December. Eastbound is more relaxed with a wider selection of tonnage available.

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.