Rates to ship liquefied petroleum gas on very large gas carriers dipped on 17 August following a slight recovery from 10-14 August.
Brokers told IHS Maritime that this was due to a number of ships being fixed and then cancelled when charterers failed to secure cargoes.
Rates averaged USD102.25/tonne on the benchmark Gulf-Far East route, down 37.5 cents from 14 August.
At current prices in Fujairah, this amounts to USD103,337 in daily earnings, which is still profitable for shipowners.
Related news:VLGC rates cool as more tonnage enters market
Reported Gulf-Far East fixtures showed only Shell fixing Venus Glory for USD100/tonne for a Kuwait-Far East trip.
A Singapore-based broker, however, told IHS Maritime that he was cautiously optimistic for September loadings, as tonnage supply is tight.
“Most of the available ships for the rest of this month have been taken and there are still cargoes left to be fixed,” said the broker.
One Oslo-based broker also told IHS Maritime that liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) producers in the Gulf continue to release cargoes for sale, while India’s LPG demand remains strong.
This post was sourced from IHS Maritime 360: View the original article here.
