NWE/MED: In the NWE market, activity has been quite subdued on the coasters side with not nearly enough enquiries or fixtures seen to revive market sentiment. Also the majority of

NWE/MED

 

In the NWE market, activity has been quite subdued on the coasters side with not nearly enough enquiries or fixtures seen to revive market sentiment. Also the majority of activity was mainly seen on the tc side with quite a few fixtures concluded for long term biz. Furthermore some delays were seen in the NWE and ARA regions due to adverse weather conditions tying up vessels and taking some length off the list. Also there has been a steady amount of cargoes seen in this market but not enough to employ all the open tonnage thus leaving many positions open. There were reportedly more petchem cargoes seen towards the North and butane cargoes saw activity improve towards the MED. Specifically the propane coaster market this week didn’t see much in terms of activity as demand has yet to pick up.  Both refineries and terminals are well supplied and in no rush to get rid off tons. On the other hand the butane coaster market is better off with more demand seen with cargoes being fixed towards NWE. Also blenders are continuing to show their interest and sourcing good quality product is still a problem. Lower grade product however is easier to find and cover any needs. Product prices have increased on the back of higher crude prices.

Moving to the MED now, this week the spot market was more or less as quiet as the NWE market with particular demand seen for butane out of this region. As far as vessel availabilities are concerned there are some open positions in the area. In the propane coaster market in particular, demand is at a low point with weather conditions still not cold enough to boost buying interest. Also terminals and refineries are well stocked but traders are holding out for better demand. As reported 500 mts were sold fob ex S France and 1.6 kt were sold ex Lavera to Barcelona. On the other hand the butane coaster market was more active with continued demand from Maghreb and East Med. As per last week refinery supplies were still at low levels. As reported 2-4 kt sold ex Lavera and 1.5 kt sold fob.

 

SEA/FEAST

In the Feast pressurized market activity was moderate with some enquiries reported mainly ex. Singapore, South China, Korea and Indonesia. There were quite a few actual spot fixtures witnessed in the area ex. South China and Singapore, with activity being mainly accumulated by petchems. Also due to the upcoming Chinese New Years festivities traders are in the market looking to cover any gaps in their schedules and next week is expected to be rather busy in this sense. Moving on to China, prices are more or less stable and there seems to be a tight cargo supply issue from N China putting pressure on prices. Furthermore according to reports the Gaoqiao Petrochemicals plant will reduce its production rate for about a week due to scheduled maintenance operations. Lastly in the Indian Ocean, activity remains particularly well scheduled on time charter with owners programs scheduled for Jan.

In the Asian petchems market now, there have been quite a few enquiries reported from the South towards the North with most of the month tightly scheduled. Also traders are busy trying to build sufficient stocks before the quieter period of the Chinese New Year Celebrations ahead. Also petchem prices seem to have increased this week due to higher crude prices and stocking interest.

 

Time Charter Fixtures

Kent (35,000 cbm) was fixed for 4 months T/C to acct NF Trading with del mid Jan / Gibraltar – hire reported at around usd 895k pcm.

Luke (3,300 cbm) was fixed for 1 year T/C +6+6 months opt to acct Cuba Metal with del Jan / Europe – reported at about usd 280k pcm.

Gaz Venezia (7,300 cbm) was fixed for 1 year T/C + opt to acct Mitsui Ammonia with del Jan / Asia – hnr.

Grendon (5,000 cbm) was fixed for 1 year T/C to acct Flopec with del Jan / Equador – hnr. 

 

Sale and Purchase/New Buildings

None Reported.

Scrapping

Emsgas (5,250 cbm, blt 1984, 3,360 ltd) was sold by Transgas to Indian Breakers in Alang with del Jan – price reported around usd 530 per lwt.

 




Source: StealthGas INC