LNG

Despite a fixture in the east reported at $50,000/day on the TFDE ships and $75,000/day on the 2-Strokes, the index fell again on the back of a lack of general activity. As we have seen happen in the past at this time of year, the constructs of the deals have morphed and rather than any round trip basis we have seen a couple of fixtures concluded with ballast to hub only. A few new ships opening up in the Atlantic has put pressure on rates as well, and though we are in winter season with a few particularly cold snaps across Europe, gas storage has remained high, so shipping demand hasn’t been great.

Rates have fallen for the 10th week in a row, with periods of stabilisation here and there. However, there is little to support a rise in rates currently and the market outlook hasn’t been too optimistic from brokers. On the TFDE BLNG1g Australia-Tokyo a fall of $16,670 gave a final publication of $47,551 (despite reports of one TFDE ship fixed at $50,000 PD). BLNG2g Houston-Cont dropped down to $63,380 while BLNG3g Houston-Tokyo fell to $66,323.

On the 2-strokes a fixture at $75,000/day on Aus-Japan couldn’t stave off a fall and we published at $69,241, while Houston-Cont fell to $85,018 and BLNG3-174 Houston-Tokyo dropped the most at $28,094 to close at $87,906.

Period has remained flat, with little reported done on short or longer term at the moment and rates have remained steady with six-months on 174cbm 2-Stroke $67,500, one-year at $90,767, while the three-year fell to $95,800.

 

LPG

What a week for the LPG market, one that will go down (and this is meant both literally and figuratively) as one to try and forget. A huge fall on all three routes this week, with product woes, a longer tonnage list, and an arb that is working against the market all contributed to a big decrease across the board. BLPG1 Ras Tanura-Chiba fell by $38.714 making it one of the biggest weeks falls for the last few years. A close price below $100 from mid-$130’s was not what the market wanted to see and with a final publication of $98.143 and a daily TCE earning equivalent of $83,487 with little view of the bottom so far has many brokers reaching for an early weekend.

It was an even more troublesome week for the market in the Atlantic. The biggest weeks fall on BLPG3 seen at $58.572 saw two consecutive days of about $20 shaved off the index. While perhaps BLPG Houston-Flushing saw the best of the worst this week, losing only $21.8, it has done so only on the fact very little if any cargoes were reported fixed that way. BLPG3 Houston-Chiba shrunk by 26.83% to close out at $159.714 and a daily TCE earning equivalent of $85,993. Regardless, few fixtures and an arb working against the market doesn’t bode well for the beginning of next week either.