Some owners remain jittery along the route into the Far East, and it is these owners who can be relied upon to accept rates in the low $50s per metric ton for 5,000-ton parcels from the U.S. Gulf to the Mainport, Far East. Other owners, whose ships are not open until the second half of May, have rate ideas that are in the $58/t-$60/t region.

Whether or not rates recover will depend upon how much styrene can be brought to the market. So far, there are a number of May requirements, but there are also quite a lot for June, suggesting that May molecules may be hard to access. Other requirements include paraxylene, ethylene dichloride, phenol, methanol and some base oils that are destined for in-house use.

Rates are a touch firmer on the eastbound, transatlantic route, which reflects the tight space situation. Styrene has yet to show in any great volumes, but there are products such as cumene, glycol and vinyl acetate monomer. Cyclohexane in the amount of 4,000 tons from Port Arthur, U.S. to Antwerp, Belgium is fixed in the low $50s/t. Several cargoes of biodiesel are fixed to the UK, Norway and Spain.

The market seems to be quite busy along the route to the Caribbean, and a lot has been quoted or fixed over the past week. A small parcel of base oils is looking to ship from the U.S. Gulf to Rio Haina, Dominican Republic, and traders have been trying to obtain 2,500 tons of base oil for shipment into Cartagena, Colombia, but most of the activity is in acids, caustic, ethanol, urea ammonia nitrate and methanol. Vegetable oil is also busy with an assortment of cargoes.

Vegetable oil in the amount of 9,000-10,000 tons was heard to have fixed from New Orleans, U.S., to Barranquilla, Colombia, and Buenaventura, Colombia, in the low $50s/t, just to give an idea of the levels.

Space is tight for prompt loading into the east coast of South America. A tender to supply 10,000 tons of paraxylene to Suape, Brazil, was awarded to the U.S. Gulf supply, with the winner seeing freight levels in the mid- to high $50s/t due to the shortage of space. Ethanol continues to move south in large quantities, soaking up a substantial amount of space. Methanol and styrene have also been on the cards. Several 1,000-ton parcels of isopropanol and acetone have been noted going to Argentina, with rates quoted in the mid $90s/t.

The route into India and the Middle East is slow right now. Interest in ethanol and ethylene dichloride has waned, and base oils are on hold.

Europe

Inevitably, the long weekend in Europe took its toll on the amount of business to be developed in the North Sea and Baltic. All the same, there is not much idle tonnage in the area either, and owners seem to have patched together sufficient work for at least a week for the majority of their ships. Rates remain pretty competitive, however, as none of the owners want to take a risk by being too expensive and subsequently missing out on business. Base oils have been mostly routine, although a requirement for up to 15,000 tons from Riga, Latvia, to Antwerp-Rotterdam-Amsterdam was truly exceptional.

Given that the market into the Mediterranean has been tight on space for several weeks and that there is plenty of demand, owners have shown surprising restraint in terms of rate levels. A couple of chemicals cargoes have been quoted into Turkey already for a couple of weeks.

In a similar vein, a couple of ships were running late and the charterers took the opportunity to scout around to see what else would be around as candidates. In the end, the cargoes simply ended up going on the delayed ships. Additionally, a cargo loading from northern Spain into the Mediterranean entailed a vessel ballasting down from Antwerp-Rotterdam-Amsterdam because there was nothing else suitable in the area at the time.

Northbound demand has been rather subdued, and some owners have been quick to adjust their freight ideas downwards. Caustic in the amount of 5,000 tons from the West Mediterranean to Continental Europe is understood to have gone in the mid- to high 20s/t, for example. A little bit of base oil activity has occurred, with movements from Spain and Greece reported.

Base oils continue to provide good employment for ship owners, with yet more movements noted out of Spain, Italy, Greece and Kavkaz along the Inter-Mediterranean route. Biodiesel is active again, while methanol is becoming busier. Methyl tertiarybutyl ether and ETBE is being seen more regularly, as is customary at this time of year. Urea ammonia nitrate, also seasonal, is a little busier. Vegetable oil from the Black Sea is moving well, with some of the rates from the Black Sea into the West Mediterranean being at higher levels than the front haul leg from the West Mediterranean into the East Mediterranean with chemicals.

There is not much happening on the westbound route apart from paraxylene. Paraxylene in the amount of 5,000 tons from Gonfreville, France, to Altamira, Mexico, is fixed in the high $40s, low $50s/t. Methyl tertiarybutyl ether in the amount of 20,000 tons was worked from Rotterdam, Netherlands, to Houston, U.S. Traders talk of pyrolysis gasoline, but nothing has gone firm so far. Base oil activity is slight.

Traders have struggled to accomplish much into the Far East over the past week, with holidays in Europe making it hard to confirm product availability, while holidays in Asia have made it difficult to conclude sales. Rates are generally stable, with only scheduled space on the berth at this stage. Pyrolysis gasoline has been quoted from Antwerp-Rotterdam-Amsterdam and the Black Sea, and 10,000 tons of mixed xylenes was being studied to Korea.

Some traders have their sights on styrene and phenol, and base oils have, again, been fixed to Singapore from the Black Sea and Antwerp-Rotterdam-Amsterdam. News that the proposed consumption tax in China has been deferred may throw off some of the uncertainty traders have felt over the past couple of weeks, and could result in more business being quoted.

Space remains tight for prompt loading from Europe to India and the Middle East Gulf. Some traders have been flitting around with chemicals requirements into India and the United Arab Emirates, trying this loading port or that in the hope of finding space. In spite of trying five to six different possibilities, none were actually successful, at least at levels that suited the traders. Base oils have been quiet, apart from a cargo that sailed from Kavkaz, Russia, to Sharjah, U.A.E.

Asia

There has been a slight uplift in the amount of domestic cargo enquiry for May, and the persistent overhang of prompt tonnage has diminished to a large extent, though has not totally been eradicated. Rates may have moved up slightly on one or two deals, but the bulk of fixtures are seeing unchanged levels. Base oil activity is nothing remarkable. There are fixtures of course, but most are pretty routine. Cargo quantities remain small in many cases too.

Owners are having tremendous difficulty in securing transpacific cargoes, to the extent that owners who have fixed part of the ships space have asked to be released because they have been unable to find any more cargo. In these circumstances, rates have sunk lower from Korea, yet for other ports, such as Kaohsiung, Taiwan, owners still talk about levels in the high $50s and low $60s/t for 4,000-5,000-ton parcels.

Rates to Europe remain steady, with most scheduled carriers unable to offer much space, and only a handful of ships around in May willing to entertain the smaller parcels, even if they do pay significantly higher than the 5,000-ton slugs.

Business seems slower this week in the regional markets along the route to India and the Middle East Gulf. More Iranian base oils have been discussed, and a small cargo of base oil was booked from Sitra, Bahrain, to Mumbai, India. There is still a requirement for 5,000 tons of base oils into Sudan from the Red Sea. Both eastbound and westbound routes have been slow this week.

Adrian Brown is a senior market analyst for chemicals and base oils with SSY Shipbrokers, London, can be reached atfix@ssychems.comor +44 12 0750 7507. Information about SSY can be found atwww.ssyonline.com. In the Houston office,Steve Rosenthalof SSY’s Chemical Tanker Department can be reached directly at +1 (713) 652-2700 and Jordi Maymi in Singapore can be reached at +65 6854-7127.