The USG was a miserable place in August. The only bright spot was the USG/Asia service that saw a jump in demand and consequently higher freights. Styrene and MX in particular were needed by Asian buyers to supplement tighter domestic supplies. Freight rates for 5,000t parcels Houston/ MPFE increased rapidly from mid $50s to $70/t, helped by the reduced number of sailings this month from some of the regular owners on the route. Not a great deal happened in the USG/Caribs market. The arb for small lots of CPP regularly opened and shut, while the usual parcels of tallow and vegoils came and went. Rates were largely stable all month. USG/ EC. South America saw a minor reduction in rates over the month as contractual demand slipped back. Spot demand however was buoyed by the amount of ethanol that was required in Brazil due to the poor sugarcane harvest. Northbound intriguingly saw a fair amount of ethanol ship Brazil/USG and Caribs as traders juggled with the various subsidies and tax breaks.
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