Asian Aframax Rates May Extend Decline a Second Week
Asian Aframax Rates May Extend Decline a 2nd Week
By Katherine Espina
June 19 (Bloomberg)
The cost of shipping 80,000 metric tons of oil on Asian routes, which fell 1.2 percent last week, may extend its decline until charterers book their cargoes for July.
The rate of shipping crude or fuel oil on so-called Aframax tankers to Singapore from Kuwait declined 0.13 percent to 144.81 yesterday, according to the London-based Baltic Exchange.
Rates to ship crude on Aframax vessels to Asian routes last week dropped the first time in three weeks as capacity expanded. The cost of hiring Aframax tankers may rise or hold steady when more vessels are hired to load cargoes for July, shipbrokers including London-based Galbraith's Ltd. said.
There are 12 Aframax tankers sailing to Singapore this month and none for July yet, according to AISLive on Bloomberg.
Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil producer, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates this week may release port-loading schedules for July crude shipments, stoking demand for supertankers.
That may lead to increased demand in the following weeks for Aframax vessels, which are predominantly deployed on short-haul routes or intra-regional trade and in harbors too small to accommodate supertankers.
The cost of shipping a barrel of oil on an Aframax vessel on the Kuwait to Singapore route stood at $1.97 as of June 18, unchanged for the previous 17 days, according to Bloomberg data.
Japan Bound
The Aframax tanker rate on the Indonesia to Japan route was steady at Worldscale 157.50, the daily cost for the last two weeks, according to Bloomberg data. Shipping a barrel of oil on the route amounts to $1.84, steady from the last two weeks, according to Bloomberg data.
The cost of shipping gasoline and other so-called clean petroleum products to Asia declined on June 18, according to the Baltic Exchange.
The cost of shipping 30,000 tons of oil products from Singapore to Japan fell 1.03 percent to Worldscale 202.88 yesterday, the lowest in almost eight weeks. It has slumped 20 percent the last four weeks, based on data from the Baltic Exchange.
Shipping costs for 55,000 tons of products on the route to Japan from the Middle East dropped 0.4 percent to Worldscale 168.46, the lowest in about four months. The rate fell 15 percent in the past four weeks.
The cost of carrying 75,000 tons of gasoline, naphtha or jet fuel from Singapore to Japan declined for a sixth day. The rate dropped 1.07 percent to Worldscale 135.42 yesterday, the lowest in about six weeks, Baltic Exchange data showed. The cost of shipping on the route fell 3.2 percent last week, the second weekly decline.