LNG

We are very much in the winter season for LNG, although if you were to look at the spot freight rates you would not be able to tell. With muted enquiry and only a couple of requirements on either side of the canal, there is not much to report back. All three routes have lost value this week. In the East of Suez arena a few questions ex-Australia is the only reported enquiry dragging the rate down for BLNG1/BLNG1-174 from $48,300/$65,100 to $44,700/$61,100, while in the Atlantic a few traders and utilities are looking for November tonnage but not sufficient enough to prevent the rate slide on BLNG2/BLNG2-174 from $42,600/$56,400 to $39,500/$52,000. The trans-Panama route (BLNG3/BLNG3-174) suffered the same fate, dropping from $58,000/$76,199 to $52,000/$69,000.

Continuing lack of interest on period has kept the rates falling for all three periods. Our multi-month charter came off $2,950, closing at $68,200 while one-year charter rates fell by $1,250 to $76,250 while the three-year term came off $250 to $80,400.

 

LPG

It does not take much for the LPG market to change, and the winds of change hit hard and fast this week. BLPG1 Ras Tanura-Chiba is up 47.65%, which is one the greatest jumps on the route for a long time. With a rise of $32.916, the index closed at $69.083, which pushed earnings on the TCE up by $34,359 a 67.29% and a close of $51,059. The rates initially dragged up by the activity in the US found its own feet, fixing high with reports of a cargo working in the high $70’s.

Across the Atlantic, the market was busy, with several early cargoes coming out, pushing the rates up and many charterers who had been taking their time came out with stems that fuelled the fire and pushed the levels even higher. BLPG3 Houston-Chiba gained $39.5 (31.14%) closing well above the triple digits at $126.833, which had a corresponding TCE earning of $56,920, which was up 53.34% or $30,363. BLPG2 though quiet in actual fixtures still gained moving up $20 (30.3%) closing at $66 and a TCE earning equivalent of $68,685.