NWE/MED
In the NWE market, activity was on the quiet side for yet another week with a limited amount of enquiries and fixtures in the area. On the other hand there were a handful of cargoes circulated in the market creating some buzz but it was mostly short lived. Also the number of open vessels in the area started to increase but at the same time the situation was balanced by some delays seen in owners coa programs across the region mainly due to bad weather conditions. Both markets seem to be more occupied with coa obligations than activity that has stemmed from spot prompt business. More specifically the propane coaster market remains subdued with little interest seen in product for yet another week. Despite colder weather conditions in the area demand hasn’t picked up as much as one would expect but there is some interest. On to the butane coaster market, activity is at healthier levels here with petchems and blenders both continuing to show their support for this product. There is some lack of product especially good quality grade. Also the arbitrage window to the South is staying strong thus sustaining the market.
Moving to the MED now, this week market activity was at restrained levels and the amount of spot cargoes were also limited. In the propane coaster market specifically activity has been yet again subdued even though some spot demand was there along with colder weather conditions but nothing reported done. According to reports the only transactions finalized were a few coasters towards Spain and Italy on p+c basis. On to the butane coaster market now, activity was quiet here as well with both demand and supply on the short side. Also as reported most of S France availabilities are being used up by crackers and little was seen circulated in the market. Also some coasters were reported into Morocco replacing Algerian del that were delayed.
SEA/FEAST
In the Feast pressurized market activity started off more or less slowly and gained some momentum towards the end of the week with a few enquiries seen here and there. As reported there was some increased activity brought about by Philippine tenders in the Sea areas. Also reportedly there were some enquiries in the market for April dates ex Malaysia but nothing finalized. Furthermore there was some interest for May dates as well mainly for a tender in the area but nothing finalized here either. Taking a look at China now, in South China it was reported that sales have substantially increased and inventory levels are quite comfortable. Also according to reports a Bataan refinery will be offline in beg May for most of the month due to maintenance operations and this will most likely affect the market with more Filipino tenders expected quoted.
In the Asian petchems market now, ppl activity seems to be on the quiet side for the most part with only a few cargoes quoted. Enquiries were mainly reported ex Map Tha Phut and Kaohsiung for E China regions. Also due to the fact that quite a few crackers have come back on line lately there has been more product available in the market now. On to the other petchems markets now, activity has been more or less the same with mainly CC4 cargoes seen circulated mainly ex Sea but nothing reported final. Furthermore btd seems to be on the short side but some enquiries were seen ex Kaohsiung end April for Daesan. Lastly the vcm market continues to remain silent.
Time Charter Fixtures
Elversele (37,500 cbm, blt 1996) was fixed for 2 +1 +1 ops years T/C to acct ENAP with del Chile / June-July 2012 – hnr.
Gas Pride (9,000 cbm, blt ) was fixed for 3 months to acct Norgas with del E Med/end April – hnr
Al Wukir (82,000 cbm, blt 2008) was fixed for 15-30 days short T/C to acct SHV with del MEG/end April – hnr
Gas Mahi (27,500 cbm, blt 1989) was fixed for 6 months T/C to acct Mitsui with del Feast – hnr
Anafi (35,500 cbm, blt 2009) was fixed for 2 months T/C to acct Statoil – hnr
Maersk Gusto (22,500 cbm, blt 2011) was fixed for 3 + 3 months T/C to acct Reliance with del MEG/mid April – hnr
Baltic Gas (20, 700 cbm, blt 1994) was fixed for 3 months T/C to acct Hyproc with prompt del MED – hnr
Sale and Purchase/New Buildings
Red Dragon tbrn Caspian Gas (3,500 cbm, blt 1989) was sold to Caspian Shipping for a price of about usd 4 mill.
According to reports Exmar has sold two vessels for an en bloc price of about usd 48.9 mill. The vessels are the Chaconia (28,000 cbm, blt 1990) which was sold to acct Negmar/Raintrade and the Elversele (37,500 cbm, blt 1996) which was sold to acct Ultragas.
Scrapping
None Reported.
