A strengthening LR market is leaving little tonnage to be had in the Middle East Gulf, with owners rushing to the region or switching back to clean trading.
Clarksons LR2 fleet weighted average hit $67,000 per day on Tuesday, up 6.8% week over week and up 30.5% from last month.
The same figure for LR1s jumped 4.7% from last week and 24.5% from last month, to reach $51,400 per day.
“The uptick for LRs continues to be driven by a tight market in the Middle East Gulf, with some owners now transitioning from dirty to clean trading,” Clarksons said in its daily report.
“With limited activity West of Suez, owners with vessels in South America and Africa are willing to ballast towards the tighter market in the Middle East.”
BRS Group painted an even more dire picture for LR charterers.
The broker said just a single ship was available for May dates and the aforementioned ballasters from trades in the Atlantic Ocean were few and far between, leaving little left for Middle East Gulf to Far East voyages.
“Next week looks set to be more of the same, with charterers working quietly — and with rates as high as they are, we may start to see a few discounts creeping in,” BRS Group said in its weekly note, calling sentiment “steady/firm”.
Together, the two described a mixed situation for the MR market, with BRS referring to a tight market in the Middle East and Clarksons weakness in the Atlantic.
BRS said MRs in the Middle East were “busy”, with plenty of cargoes coming online and straining the tonnage list.
“Some charterers prefer to fix forward as freight has not experienced a massive jump,” it said. “The increase was sufficient, however, to maintain a firm market.”
Clarksons said the Atlantic market turned softer, with rates for US-bound ships out of Europe falling 11.7% from last week to $22,100 per day for an eco-designed MR.
