Persian Gulf tanker rates likely to drop
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The cost of shipping Middle East crude to Asia, the world’s busiest route for supertankers, may drop for a fourth session as public holidays in China curb demand.
Markets in China, the second-largest energy consumer, are closed for National Day holidays and would not reopen until October 6.
The United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain bourses are also shut for Eid Al-Fitr.
There are holidays in South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines.
The supply of double-hulled tankers appeared “tight” for the first few days of November so rates “should come up again next week,” managing director of shipbroker Nor Ocean Stockholm AB Per Mansson said in an e-mailed note last Thursday.
S. Oil Corp, South Korea’s third-largest refiner, hired a tanker owned by Iran for 140 Worldscale points, according to a report from Paris-based shipbroker Barry Rogliano Salles.
That’s 3.4% below the London-based Baltic Exchange’s benchmark assessment for cargoes to Asia of 145 points. Iranian tankers are not allowed to sail to the US, reducing their trading options.
Refineries need to hire about 25 more very large crude carriers, or VLCCs, to load in October, according to a report on Wednesday from Barry Rogliano Salles. There are 51 available vessels that can get to the Middle East by the end of the month.
Worldscale points are a percentage of a nominal rate, or flat rate, for more than 320,000 specific routes.
Flat rates for every voyage, quoted in US dollars a tonne, are revised annually by the Worldscale Association in London to reflect changing fuel costs, port tariffs and exchange rates.
Each flat rate assessment gives owners and oil companies a starting point for negotiating hire rates without having to calculate the value of each deal from scratch.
A rate of 145 Worldscale points equates to US$95,787 in daily rental income after fuel and port costs are paid, according to the Baltic Exchange’s calculations.
Globally, the carriers are making US$82,258 a day. Frontline Ltd, the world’s biggest operator of VLCCs, said August 21 it needed US$31,400 a day to break even on each of its supertankers.
Markets in China, the second-largest energy consumer, are closed for National Day holidays and would not reopen until October 6.
The United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain bourses are also shut for Eid Al-Fitr.
There are holidays in South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines.
The supply of double-hulled tankers appeared “tight” for the first few days of November so rates “should come up again next week,” managing director of shipbroker Nor Ocean Stockholm AB Per Mansson said in an e-mailed note last Thursday.
S. Oil Corp, South Korea’s third-largest refiner, hired a tanker owned by Iran for 140 Worldscale points, according to a report from Paris-based shipbroker Barry Rogliano Salles.
That’s 3.4% below the London-based Baltic Exchange’s benchmark assessment for cargoes to Asia of 145 points. Iranian tankers are not allowed to sail to the US, reducing their trading options.
Refineries need to hire about 25 more very large crude carriers, or VLCCs, to load in October, according to a report on Wednesday from Barry Rogliano Salles. There are 51 available vessels that can get to the Middle East by the end of the month.
Worldscale points are a percentage of a nominal rate, or flat rate, for more than 320,000 specific routes.
Flat rates for every voyage, quoted in US dollars a tonne, are revised annually by the Worldscale Association in London to reflect changing fuel costs, port tariffs and exchange rates.
Each flat rate assessment gives owners and oil companies a starting point for negotiating hire rates without having to calculate the value of each deal from scratch.
A rate of 145 Worldscale points equates to US$95,787 in daily rental income after fuel and port costs are paid, according to the Baltic Exchange’s calculations.
Globally, the carriers are making US$82,258 a day. Frontline Ltd, the world’s biggest operator of VLCCs, said August 21 it needed US$31,400 a day to break even on each of its supertankers.