Arrival of a new round of sanctions on Iran may deliver a helping hand to tanker owners, according to Maersk Broker.
Jakob Hjortlund, the lead tanker researcher at Maersk Broker, says the approaching sanctions will bring uncertainty to the market.
“Our view is that it may tighten the overall supply and demand balance and thus have a neutral to slightly positive effect on earnings,” Hjortlund said.
In an update on the market the researcher said those owners hoping for a recovery this year have so far been disappointed.
“Although oil demand has proved to be resilient to increasing prices, backwardation in the oil market has resulted in a continued draw on stocks and a lack of floating storage,” he said. “Thus, markets have struggled to absorb new tonnage.”
While Hjortlund says September is generally the weakest month of the year, relief in the form of a seasonal uptick in connection with winter is on the cards.
The typical seasonality was missing from the tanker market last year.
However, major owners, including Sovcomflot and Frontline, are expecting rates to take a turn for the better in the fourth quarter.
