Spot Tanker Rates Soar
Spot shipping rates for clean tankers rose sharply on Tuesday as charterers put vessels on subjects at rates not seen since last April.
According to MANA, Medium-range tankers (MR) for the Baltic Exchange's TC2 Europe-to-US East Coast voyage were put on subjects at WorldScale (WS) 160 through 185 Tuesday, market sources said. That compares to a Friday assessment of WS 120 for the TC2.
Some owners are reportedly holding back from offering ships into the market "because they are thinking it will get to WS 200 by Thursday."
Among the ships reported to be put on subjects were the 50,000-dwt Dong A Krios (built 2015) which BP was reported to have put on subjects at WS 160. Phillips 66 put the 47,500-dwt Ardmore Sealifter (built 2008) on subjects at WS 185.
Stifel says in a research report that refineries representing about 2.1 million barrels per day of capacity, nearly 40% of what's available along the Texas coast, were idled to some degree as a result of Harvey.
Six refineries in Corpus Christi area were shut, with one scheduled to resume operations. Four refineries in the Houston region were also shut, with two others in the area running at reduced rates.
The Corpus Christi refineries in particular "play an outsized role in the exports of US refined products," Stifel said.