Whatever numbers you use, LR2 product tankers are raking in cash, pulling the rest of the sector along with them.
According to Clarksons, the LR2 fleet weighted average jumped 14.3% to $84,300 per day on Wednesday, continuing a rise in which it added 50% over the past week.
The richest route assessed by the UK brokerage was from the Middle East Gulf to Continental Europe, where a scrubber-fitted, eco-designed vessel would earn $95,300 per day, a 21.3% rise day over day.
But that figure paled in comparison with Howe Robinson’s assessment from Tuesday, which had eco vessels on that voyage earning $112,476 per day.
Fearnley Securities called the rise “impressive”, with the ships earning “whopping” rates.
“This will turn into significant positive estimate revisions across the product tanker space for [the first quarter], as both rates held up through [the fourth quarter] strong and now are increasingly strong,” Fearnleys analyst Oystein Vaagen said.
For LR1s, Clarksons’ fleet weighted average came in at $59,500 per day on Wednesday, a 14.1% rise from the day prior and a nearly 37% jump week over week.
MRs had a $43,600 per day weighted average, a 7.7% gain and a 42.5% gain over the past week.
ABG Sundal Collier analyst Petter Haugen said clean petroleum product exports continue to surge, from 28.3m barrels per day for 2022 to 28.7m bpd in 2023 to 29.5m bpd in the first two weeks of this year.
He said tonne-miles grew 3% last year, thanks to the rerouting of Russian cargoes, a trend that would continue into 2024.
That and other factors would continue to propel the product tanker sector forward for the rest of the year.
“With the … growth in overall global oil demand, refineries starting up in exporting regions, the ‘closure’ of the Red Sea passage, transit limitations in the Panama Canal and a rather high and volatile oil price much driven by Middle East unrest, we believe the product tanker market will stay strong in 2024,” Haugen said.
