Freight rates to haul liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) on very large gas carriers (VLGCs) have been going up as available ships this month are being snapped out.
The Baltic Exchange assessed the benchmark Arabian Gulf-Far East rate at USD88.25/tonne on 20 April, up from USD81.34/tonne on 13 April. That works out to daily earnings of USD82,646 at current bunker prices in Fujairah.
A UK shipbroker told IHS Maritime that as Brent crude prices reached a high of over USD63/barrel last week on evidence of US peak production, more LPG was traded.
He said, “Indian ports remain congested and six to seven ships are still waiting to discharge cargoes, and this is encouraging shipowners with Indian charterers expected to fix for May loading this week.”
Vitol, TOTAL, and BP each fixed Iris Glory, Gas Al Negeh, and Captain John NP for USD85/tonne for Ras Tanura-Chiba trips. Meanwhile, Geogas took Aurora Capricorn for USD87/tonne for a similar trip.
Norwegian broker Lorentzen & Stemoco said in its weekly report that all ships positioned for the Arabian Gulf have been fixed out for this month.
It said, “There are still ships on subjects for May-loading however, and the position lists for the next 30 days are thinning amid uncovered requirements from various loading areas. The only potential fly in the ointment is reported delays in the Saudi acceptances; we could potentially see some relets surface for the first half of the month while the second half may consequently be left slightly short. Loadings in Houston for June are starting soon and will no doubt create some demand for tonnage ballasting in from the East.”
This post was sourced from IHS Maritime 360: View the original article here.