Market and product

Chemical freight rates for ships moving from the US Gulf to Asia have jumped as January draws to a close, brokers said on Friday.

All major stock indices turned down during the month, but not the USG-Asia route, a broker noted, adding that freight rates have increased almost 10% during the month.

“The flurry of spot market activity has been fueled by demand for ethanol, methanol and styrene monomer,” the broker said.

Rates for shipments of 2,000 tonnes rose to $90-95/tonne from $80-85/tonne previously, brokers said.

Freight rates for the most popular 5,000-tonne category increased to $65-75/tonne from $58-63 previously, brokers said.

The latest SSY Base Oils shipping report said there are just not enough ships on the trade lane now to accommodate the flurry.

“Ethanol and styrene continue to lead the way, while more recently a number of very large methanol shipments have been quoted,” the SSY report said.

Two new methanol shipments this week included a 17,000-tonne cargo on Fairchem Sabre headed from the USG to China, and a 29,000-tonne shipment on Genuine Galaxy from Trinidad to China, according to information from brokers.

With ethanol, three new cargoes headed out of the US Gulf: 17,000 tonnes on Fairchem Friesian; 15,000 tonnes on Ammolite (China); and 10,000 tonnes on an unknown Odfjell vessel going to the Philippines.