Freight rates for medium range clean oil product tankers sailing west from Europe have risen sharply this week, ship brokers said. The rise in rates coincides with an up tick in U.S. demand for transport fuels and South American demand for heating oil, shipping sources said. Freight rates for medium range tankers--with a capacity to carry 40,000-55,000 metric tons of clean oil products--sailing between Europe and the U.S. Atlantic coast have jumped 32.9% in a week to $13,844 a day, according to shipping analysts at investment bank Dahlman Rose.
"A mass of ships has moved out of Europe and there are lots of ships in the U.S. now," said a ship broker in based in Europe.
The sudden spurt in demand which has resulted in transfer of tonnage out of Europe has forced rates up, he added.
Data released by the U.S. Department of Energy last Wednesday, covering the week ended June 25, showed weekly gasoline demand in the country rose by 2.4%, while weekly jet fuel demand climbed by 12% for the same period.
The data also showed U.S. total motor gasoline imports jumped by around 22%, while jet fuel imports increased nearly 6% for the same period.
Meanwhile, winter demand for gasoil--a middle distillate oil product used for domestic heating--from Latin American countries in the southern hemisphere such as Argentina and Brazil have also helped increase demand for MR tankers, pushing rates higher, a ship broker based in New York added.
"A mass of ships has moved out of Europe and there are lots of ships in the U.S. now," said a ship broker in based in Europe.
The sudden spurt in demand which has resulted in transfer of tonnage out of Europe has forced rates up, he added.
Data released by the U.S. Department of Energy last Wednesday, covering the week ended June 25, showed weekly gasoline demand in the country rose by 2.4%, while weekly jet fuel demand climbed by 12% for the same period.
The data also showed U.S. total motor gasoline imports jumped by around 22%, while jet fuel imports increased nearly 6% for the same period.
Meanwhile, winter demand for gasoil--a middle distillate oil product used for domestic heating--from Latin American countries in the southern hemisphere such as Argentina and Brazil have also helped increase demand for MR tankers, pushing rates higher, a ship broker based in New York added.