March was a remarkable month, chiefly for how well the markets performed in the face of the spread of coronavirus. The US and Europe particularly did well, but even Asia had bright spots and was probably healthier than many gave credit for. Owners expressed concerns that the market must logically become depressed in the US, but March was a busy month on all routes. A shortage of tonnage in the Caribbean occasionally produced very high freights on cargoes into Mexico and Colombia, with $100/t paid for 18,000t biodiesel USG/ Vancouver. Volumes were strong into Brazil and low $70s/t were confirmed on several 10,000t caustic cargoes. Regular shipments of lubes to Santos achieved $75/t for 5,000t parcels. Rates gently eroded through the month on the transatlantic eastbound route as styrene shipments could not be sustained due to European prices collapsing. Methanol too dried up, but there were large lots of ethanol and glycols instead. Demand shifted into the Mediterranean, and 10,000t cargoes of glycol, ethanol and acetic acid to Turkey regularly commanded $75/t.
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