FIS: Tanker Market Overview: Holiday pause in Clean Tanker FFAs
Tankers in the East have seen a reduction in rates. An oversupply of LR1s has caused TC5 to come down at the front, with spot off nearly 40pts from a fortnight ago and TC17 shedding over 75pts in a week.
TC2 has been clawing its way back to previous highs, with the Baltic assessing UKC/NY basis 37kt at ws347 on 1st August. This is an improvement from ws270 levels a week ago and it has lent support to the USG MR market, which has improved by more than 150 points in less than two weeks.
With rates improving, little action has been seen on the Clean FFAs, as the start of school holidays and a public holiday in Geneva has contributed to a quiet week. Clean Tanker volumes are down 211 lots.
TD3C peaked on the 20th of July, with the Baltic assessing Middle East Gulf / China basis 270,000mt at 61.86. This has come off over the last seven days, with TD3C now assessed at 58.8 – falling mainly in line with Brent coming off and bunker prices falling. As a result, the Baltic is now assessing TCE on TD3C to $9,100 per day on a round trip.
This movement in the market has allowed many in the FFA world to take advantage, resulting in an improvement in volumes on the DPP tankers, which have increased by 2,836 lots week on week. Large volumes have been seen trading in TD3C Q4 & Cal23, mainly.
Written by Alex Macarthur, Edited by Mopani Mkandawire (https://freightinvestorservices.com/fis-live/).
