There has not been any great change to the situation in the U.S. Gulf, while some of the European routes reported reduced activity. It was really only in Asia where the markets could be described as lively.
U.S. Gulf of Mexico
Not much has happened in the U.S. markets since last week, and with the annual pilgrimage to San Antonio for the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers conference about to commence, it is unlikely that much will occur this week either. Most of the routes reported a status-quo situation.
Since most scheduled carriers were already full on the U.S. Gulf-to-Far East route, there was room for another opportunistic owner to slip an extra vessel on berth, which is what happened when another one of these large paraxylene cargoes was quoted. The rate was mid $70s/t for 17,000 ton cargo to Zhuhai and Ningbo. Other parcels include biodiesel, ethanol, and ethylene dichloride, but no other base oils so far.
Transatlantic eastbound was mainly occupied with contractual business, with the odd cargo of styrene being booked in the low $50s/t. Caustic has become more active back to Europe due to a heavy program of European plant stoppages over the next couple of months.
The route from the U.S. Gulf to the east coast of South America has been stable. Scheduled carriers are running out of space for smaller parcels which might bump up the rates for small lots, but larger cargoes should be able to attract tonnage on berth since South America will be a handy place to have a ship open once the new vegetable oil season gets under way.
A busier route was U.S. Gulf-to-Caribbean, with more small parcels into Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela.
The route from the U.S. Gulf to India-Middle East Gulf has been tight on March space because one of the ships that had been due to go on berth was involved in a collision a little while back and her cargoes were then distributed among the remaining ships. Rates rose to low-mid $90s/t for 5,000 ton cargoes on the route from the U.S. Gulf to the western coast of India.
Europe
More aggressive fixing was seen on the high profile routes in the North Sea, taking rates back down. For example, 3,500 tons of pyrolysis gasoline from Port Jerome to Rotterdam fetched $70,000, whereas the previous shipment had been done at $73,000.
Baltic business has been reasonably busy and a number of base oil cargoes have been booked.
Southbound into the Mediterranean encountered strong demand and rates were kept on a bullish note.
Northbound is not usually the most active of the European routes but some of the rates reported on prompt shipments of base oil, benzene, linear alkyl benzene and acetic acid were quite a lot higher than previous fixtures, with some going in the $70s and $80s/t.
Inter-Mediterranean routes too saw strong levels reported on prompt shipments, but for cargoes that could be loaded in eight-12 days, the rates fixed were much more competitive.
Transatlantic westbound rates collapsed dramatically as traders realized that if they could defer their shipments by 10-20 days they would see levels in the low $50s/t rather than pay the high $60s/t that a prompt lifting would merit. Base oils only made an appearance on requirements into the Caribbean with nothing showing up as being fixed into the U.S. Gulf.
The Europe-to-Asia route calmed down considerably when compared to earlier weeks. Rates were steady, while cargoes quoted included base oils, aromatics, oxo-alcohols, ethanol, glycerine and solvents.
The Europe-to-India-Middle East Gulf route was subdued too, although only a few ships were able to advertise March space. Rates were unchanged.
Asia
Demand stayed strong throughout the domestic Asia routes last week. March space has been scarce and in many cases, charterers were required to stretch the loading dates into April in hopes of finding suitable tonnage.
Base oils have been active on all routes within Asia. Some parcels of base oils were also quoted on the export routes from Asia, for example into Europe and Central America. There were also requirements to ship base oils into India and the U.A.E. Rates quoted for 3,000 ton parcels have typically been $115-$120/t to Northwest Europe, $65-$70/t to India and-although subject to space-unlikely to be less than $150/t to Central America.
Palm oil demand has increased, and biodiesel shipments have been more frequent to the U.S.
Rates have stayed firm on westbound routes from India to the Middle East Gulf. Attempts have been made to ship base oils, and if April space would be acceptable there should be some possible carriers. Numbers have been around $115-$120/t for 2,000-3,000 ton parcels from the west coast of India into Turkey.
Eastbound has stabilized and less open tonnage has been noted for the remainder of March.
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 at fix@ssychems.com or by phone at +44 1207-507507. In the London office SSYs Jordi Maymi can be reached at fix@ssychems.com or +44 20 7977 7560.