LNG

A relatively stable week for the LNG in terms of freight both the 174cbm and 160cbm indexes moved in unison with the Atlantic picking up on both BLNG2 and BLNG3 while in the Pacific levels fell.

Some interesting news from the LNG world is that once again LNG imports into Japan fell, export levels from the US also dropped while China saw an increase of up to 20% for the first two months of the year compared to the same period last year.

How this will affect freight going forward will remain to be seen but the landscape of LNG is beginning to change for shipping players. Looking to the East BLNG1 Aus-Japan fell by $3,117 for the 174 while the 160 dropped by $3,735 giving a final publication of $48,148 and $30,162 respectively.

In the Atlantic as rates continued to climb there were few reports of actual fixtures but enquires from the Mediterranean and Africa kept chins wagging, BLNG2 US-Continent rose by $2515 for the 174 to give a close of $54,212 while the 160 gained $1438 to finish at $50,427. BLNG3 US-Japan saw similar rises with the 174 up to a finish of $59,567 while the 160 crept up to $46,393. Deals for the US are mainly on round trip basis, in the Pacific there are reports both ballast bonus to hub and round trip are in play.

Period remains flat, though some reports of both multi month and three year period fixtures took place rates remain undisclosed. The Baltic assessments moved little with six months at $63,700 PD, the one year assessment fell to $76,967 while three year broke over $80k to $80,600.

LPG

A very quiet week in the AG for fixing, with one reported fixture by ATC at $78 at the start of the week sentiment fell off quite significantly since then with rates falling from the high of $79 to close at $66.857 (a drop of $12.143). Little enquiry and more ships looking at the lower earnings in the States might lengthen the tonnage list as well. TCE earnings for BLPG1 Ras Tanura-Chiba dropped by $13,296 to $46,347 daily equivalent.

Across the pond to the Atlantic marker there was not much else to say that hasn’t been said on BLPG1. BLPG2 Houston-Flushing was very quiet with no reported fixtures and sentiment waning we closed down a total of $7.4 for a publication of $69.6. BLPG3 Houston-Chiba shared a pretty similar fate losing $12.857 to close down at $124.429 giving a TCE daily earning of $49,806, meaning that TCE earnings for the East and West delta remain very close and could affect tonnage availability in the US.