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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. -
Bloomberg |
