A considerable slowdown has pushed tanker rates down in both Middle East Gulf (MEG) and West Africa, according Fearnleys weekly tanker chartering report.
Relatively few cargoes are in play at the same time in MEG which is a major change from last week, the brokerage firm said.
As indicated in the weekly review, there is a feeling that rates have peaked in both MEG and West Africa “but resistance remains firm among owners and despite fierce attempts from charterers to shave the rate, so far they have not been successful.
The Caribbean/East market has been marked by record rates being paid for ships ending up in the area.
On the other hand, the activity for the Suezmaxes changed dramatically over the last week, with sharply sliding rates for most major routes.
The rates seemed to have bottomed in West Africa and are even showing slight improvements, Fearnleys said.
In the Med and Black Sea the activity is steady but rates here are as well way down from the previous peaks as delays in Turkish strait push on. The Nsea and Baltic Aframax market declined further last week.
“The imposed export tax on Russian volumes has created a much lighter cargo program in December from the ports of Primorsk and Ust Luga. A tonnage build up in the area was unavoidable with falling rates being the outcome. The same situation can describe why the Med and Bsea Aframaxes came off also. Even with Turkish straits delays being higher and weather delays present it was not enough to maintain the high levels seen recently,” Fearnleys added.
Source: Fearnleys