WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

CHEMICALS 23RD
AUGUST
2021

Americas Easy Chemicals: $/t

USG/Caribs: Caustic continues to feature within the region, with 6- Ex Houston : 5kt 10kt 5kt
8,000t quoted Coatzacoalcos/USAC for loading any September, and
a further 4,000t caustic is looking to ship to Barranquilla + Moin, either EC Mexico $ 20-22 17-19 ↔
from Mexico or USG for September. 4-6,000t 5-6gr base oils are Santos $ 58-60 46-48 ↑
reckoned to have fixed USG/Guayaquil off end August dates. 9,000t Rotterdam $ 44-46 40-43 ↑
molasses were mentioned Pto.Cortes/Houston for 10-15 September.
2,000t palm oil was also seen Pto.Cortes/Barranquilla, while 10,000t
MPFE $ 54-58 50-53 ↔
vegoil is looking to ship to Rio Haina or Sto.Tomas in October. 12- MP China $ 57-60 51-55 ↔
15,000t canola was noted Vancouver/Grays Harbor for 20-25 Sep- WCI/MEG $ 61-63 56-60 ↔
tember, with a further 4-5,000t Vancouver/San Francisco. 15-20,000t
methanol was attempted La Brea/USG, while 30,000t UAN concluded
Point Lisas/USWC.
EOH Ex Brazil: 10k m3 20k m3 10km3
USG/South America: Continued demand has caused a tightening of Texas Gulf $ 48-51 41-43 ↔
space, and rates have edged upwards. After fixing 5,000t styrene Florida $ 50-52 41-43 ↔
Lake Charles/Santos, charterers are seeking a ship for another 5-
6,000t styrene Houston/Santos for FH September. 5-15,000t UAN New York $ 53-56 46-49 ↔
was pushed Donaldsonville/Santos, while the PX requirement to Sua- Rotterdam $ 58-61 48-50 ↔
pe is believed to have fixed from Corpus Christi. Methanol, phenol, Korea $ 78-80 68-71 ↔
base oils and glycols to Brazil have also been discussed.

Northbound: In addition to the large slugs of vegoil moving out to the CPP Rates Ex Caribs (38,000t)
East, more vegoil has been detected going to destinations in Central
New York WS 105 ↓
and WC.South America. Several further cargoes of biodiesel have
concluded Argentina/Med-ARA for end August shipment. 10,000t Rotterdam WS 75 ↓
EDC was mentioned Maceio/Damietta for end August, and 3,000t
glycol was seen Aratu/Antwerp for SH September. 1,600t palm oil
was quoted Barranquilla/Veracruz, while 1,200t SBO was proposed Energy Rates: US$
Ilo/Rio Haina.
Nat Gas : 3.914 MMBtu ↓
Transatlantic: Rising prices for methanol, MTBE and styrene in Eu- Brent, Oct 68.85 /bbl ↓
rope have generated interest from traders. 15,000t MTBE fixed USG/
Fos in the low $40s/t for end August, while others quoted 12-17,000t WTI, Oct 65.81 /bbl ↓
MTBE Beaumont/ARA for prompt. A prompt requirement for 16-
17,000t methanol Mississippi/ARA was covered in the mid $30s/t, Bunker Prices
while others quoted 16-18,000t methanol USG/ARA for end August or
early September. 15-20,000t methanol was also quoted La Brea/ Houston HSFO $388.50/t ↓
Rdam for end August, early September, following 2 earlier shipments VLSFO $495.00/t ↓
to Rdam in August. 20,000t UAN was booked Point Lisas/Rouen.
4,000t glycols Port Neches/Antwerp achieved low $60s/t for prompt.
5,000t cumene was seen Pasadena/Antwerp, while 3,000t CX was
booked USG/Antwerp. 5,000t ethanol USG/ARA was circulated for Easy Chemicals 5,000t ex-Houston
end August, while 12,000cbm ethanol was seen Texas City/Thames
for prompt. 5,000t styrene was noted Houston/ARA for 10-20 Sep- 90
tember. 5,000t ligno was said to have been attempted EC.Canada/ 80
Marmara for 10-15 September. 5-6,000t EDC was shown around 70
USG/Barcelona for end August, early September. 6-8,000t caustic
was attempted USG/Durban. A long list of vegoil requirements has 60
been seen from various ports/timings out of USG, Caribs and 50
WC.Central America. 40

USG/Asia: Some end August space remains, but otherwise owners 30

are looking at prospects for September. 35,000cbm ethanol conclud- 20
ed USG/Korea + Philippines in the low $40s for SH September. Sev- 10 EC Mexico Santos
eral traders are evaluating 20,000t methanol shipments USG/Far Rotterdam M. P. Far East
East for FH September. 35,000t used cooking oil/tallow concluded 0
Jan-18

Jan-19

Jan-20

Jan-21
Oct-18

Oct-19

Oct-20
Apr-18
Jul-18

Apr-19
Jul-19

Apr-20
Jul-20

Apr-21
Jul-21

USG/Spore end August early September.

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 23RD
AUGUST
2021

Europe Easy Chemicals: $/t

North Sea and Baltic: The biofuels business has not been quite as Ex Rotterdam: 5kt 10kt 5kt
prolific this week, yet the small tanker CPP market is still providing
a steady amount of cargo, and some fleets are almost entirely fixed USAC $ 30-32 28-30 ↔
through into September. UAN is still throwing out cargoes, but lev- USG $ 30-32 30-32 ↔
els are unchanged – 15,000t fixed Klaipeda/Rouen at $13/t for ex- MPFE $ 78-80 74-76 ↓
ample. Small base oil shipments were noted both within the Baltic M.P. China $ 79-81 76-78 ↓
and up into the Baltic and aromatics have seen some fixing too.
WCI/MEG $ 60-62 55-57 ↔
Southbound: Cargo volumes have been steady. 15,000t base oils
were worked Rdam/Valencia and a couple of sulphuric acid car- MEG /MED
goes were shipped to Morocco. 5,000t alkylate went Rdam/
5,000t $ 76-78 ↔
Aspropyrgos and 4,700t ethanol concluded Rdam/Fos. 7,000t caus-
tic was quoted Runcorn/Vigo + Aveiro, with a further 4,000t quoted 10,000t $ 68-70 ↔
to Bilbao. 2,000t base oils were mentioned Vyborg/Gebze. 3,000t 15,000t $ 57-59 ↔
tallow Rdam/WC.Italy fetched around $70/t. 6,000t EDC Eastham/
Damietta remains uncovered, as does 2,900t methanol Villagarcia/
MEG/NW Europe
Huelva. 10,000t MTBE concluded Rdam/Turkey. 5,000t $ 80-82 ↔
10,000t $ 75-77 ↔
Northbound: A decent level of demand has been reported this
week. 11,000t pygas 2-Italy/ARA yielded around $360-370k, while 15,000t $ 61-63 ↔
10,000t ETBE Fos/Rdam paid $235k, a slight increase on last- MEG/SEA
done. 5,500t FAME Ravenna/ARA paid $50/t. An unusual shipment 5,000t $ 38-40 ↔
of 10,000t CPP occurred Pto.Romano/Antwerp, and there was yet
another 13,000t UAN fixed from Nikolayev. 8,100t base oils were 10,000t $ 34-36 ↔
quoted Augusta/Valencia + ARA. MEG/NEA
Intra-Med: More prompt space has appeared in the Med this week,
5,000t $ 47-49 ↔
which might be a consequence of fewer biodiesel quotes. 6,000t 10,000t $ 42-44 ↔
FAME Ravenna/Barcelona achieved $142k. Caustic is still active 15,000t $ 38-40 ↔
with several shipments from Fos-Lavera, and the next bunch of lift-
ings from Port Said are being quoted. An MTBE cargo seems to CPP Rates (37,000t)
have loaded in Vassiliko for Chornomorsk, and there have been UKC - USAC: WS 100 ↓
shipments of MTBE to Rijeka, Arzew and Midia.

Transatlantic: There is little joy for owners in the westbound mar- Bunker Prices (380 cst)
ket, but it has reached a stage where freight costs are immaterial
Rdam: HSFO $382.50/t ↓
and it does not matter how low freight is, the cargoes will still not
move. Aromatics are just not happening. 5-7,000t BTX was quoted VLSFO $476.00/t ↓
ARA/USG but it was a fishing exercise, while 5,000t pygas from Fujairah: HSFO $415.00/t ↓
Bilbao failed subs a couple of times in the upper $40s/t, but was VLSFO $500.00/t ↓
seemingly sold to ARA instead. 4,000t RBHC was quoted Augusta/
Houston, but is likely to end up in ARA, which is what happened to Easy Chemicals 5,000t Rotterdam
the previous shipment. 5-7,000t cumene was circulated Huelva/
Phila. A couple more base oil requirements were noted, and speci- 120 CPP 37kt UKC-USAC M.P Far East
ality grades such as MDI, ECH and veova 10 were worked. 18,000t WCI/MEG USAC
100
FAME El Ferrol/USAC seemingly fixed in the mid $20s/t.
80
Europe/Asia: An overhang of space, combined with a desire to re-
position to Asia to take advantage of the strong market there is 60
causing owners to fight over larger cargoes. 13,000t base oils/
chems Rdam/Spore + Ulsan + Shanghai saw charterers counter at 40
$71/t, only for owners to then chase the numbers down into the
$50s/t. Apart from UAN to Australia, the only other requirements 20
are parcels of BGE, oxo-alcohols and some renewable naphtha.
0
Jan-18

Jul-18

Jan-19

Jul-19

Jan-20

Jul-20

Jan-21

Jul-21
Apr-18

Apr-19

Apr-20
Oct-18

Oct-19

Oct-20

Apr-21

Europe/India-MEG: The route remains quiet, with small parcels of

chems and base oils quoted. Phos acid cargoes to WC.India and
EC.India are trying to be combined to obtain lower freight.

Houston Singapore Bergen

T: (+1) 713 652 2700 T: (+65) 6536 7988 T: (+47) 55 54 05 00
F: (+1) 713 652 2710 F: (+65) 6536 8622 F: (+47) 55 54 05 01
 23RD
AUGUST
2021

Asia Easy Chemicals: $/t

Intra-NE.Asia: Prompt space remains tight amid all the covid re- Ex Ulsan: 3kt 5kt 3kt
strictions on vessels calling China, leading to numerous require- M. China $ 27-29 22-24 ↔
ments for replacement tonnage. Additionally, there is a shortage of
river pilots on the Yangtze. Space will likely tighten further with Ty-
S. China $ 33-35 24-26 ↔
phoon Omais making landfall in Korea this week. Moreover, there is Singapore $ 37-39 31-33 ↑
a spate of fresh enquiry for shipment later in September, with tolu-
ene being the star attraction. Ex Ulsan: 5kt 10kt 5kt

Asia/Southbound: Heavy demand is being seen this week, with USWC $ 59-64 55-59 ↔
enquiries covering a range of commodities. Toluene features, as Houston $ 62-67 59-62 ↔
does caustic, sulphuric acid, base oils, acrylates, phos acid, ACN, Rotterdam $ 97-102 89-95 ↑
glycols, pygas, MTBE, methanol, IPA, styrene, EDC, benzene, eth- WCI/MEG $ 57-63 53-58 ↑
anol, VAM and nitric acid. With tonnage already in short supply,
rates will face further upwards pressure.

Asia/Northbound: Some owners may refrain from committing their Ex Singapore: 1kt 3kt 1kt
ships onto the northbound leg for fear of them becoming embroiled Thailand $ 31-33 22-24 ↔
in the mayhem taking place in China and Korea, but there are so
many cargo possibilities, and at rates that are firm that few owners
Indonesia $ 30-32 20-22 ↔
will resist the temptation. Benzene and PX are noteworthy com- Malaysia $ 26-27 17-19 ↔
modities, as are methanol, base oil, biofuels, glycerine, fatty alco- S. China $ 52-54 42-44 ↑
hol, TBA, phenol, toluene, molasses and paraffins. 2,000t heated M. China $ 56-58 48-50 ↑
cargo fixed Straits/Korea at $80/t.
Korea $ 54-56 45-47 ↑
Intra-SE.Asia: Prompt space is scarce, but there are some ships
around for FH September. A reasonable amount of spot market CPP Rates (35,000t):
activity has been recorded, while the small CPP fleet is capitalising
on the strength in the large tanker sector. Prompt oleochems seem MEG - Japan WS 130 ↓
hard to cover, and there are requirements for toluene, MTBE, py-
gas, benzene, PX, base oils, alkylate and mixed aromatics. Palm Oils 10kt 15kt 10kt
EC India 36-38 33-35 ↑
Palm oil: Demand from China is strong, and rates are firm due to
scarcity of space. Indian demand is also hot with firm rates record- WC India 40-42 37-39 ↑
ed. Deep-sea markets are seeing very strong numbers, high $60s/t
to ARA for 42kt, mid $80s to the Med for 16.5kt and mid $90s/t to Bunker Prices (380cst)
East Africa for a J19, for example.
Singapore HSFO $402.50/t ↓
Asia/Export: The only Transpacific benzene has been 6,000t VLSFO $505.00/t ↓
Japan/USG for October. However, space is filling with speciality
grades such as isoprene, MDI and acetic acid. 2,000t base oils
fixed Mailiao/Brownsville in the $150s/t, and several others are try-
ing base oils to the USG and Cuba. 4-6,000t toluene fixed Easy Chemicals 5,000t Ulsan
Kaohsiung/Kalama, and sulphuric acid is also active, with firm rates
heard. Space to Europe is very tight and owners are very bullish on 110
freights. Biofuels remain very active. There are enquiries for metha- 100
nol, caustic and glycols, as well as finer grades of speciality chems.
90

India-MEG: Fewer cargoes have been quoted in the regional mar- 80

ket this week, especially smaller lots. Some larger lots of methanol, 70
canola, benzene, paraffins and base oils have been noted. East- 60
bound space is fairly tight for the rest of September. Some of the 50
aromatics cargoes from India have already been around a while
40
without achieving the freight target. Westbound is firm, though Rotterdam USWC
owners will ballast from Europe for the larger volumes. 20,000t 30
Houston WCI/MEG
methanol Mesaieed/ARA paid $55/t. Several PX/benzene cargoes 20
were booked, and there is caustic and more methanol quoted.
Jan-18

Jan-19

Jan-20

Jan-21
Apr-18

Apr-19

Apr-20

Apr-21
Jul-18

Jul-19

Jul-20

Jul-21
Oct-18

Oct-19

Oct-20

18,500t sulphuric acid fixed Dahej/Jorf. 4,500t base oils fixed Ru-
wais/NWE, allegedly for around $90/t, and parcels of ethanol, VAM,
butac and phenol have been seen.

Houston Singapore Bergen

T: (+1) 713 652 2700 T: (+65) 6536 7988 T: (+47) 55 54 05 00
F: (+1) 713 652 2710 F: (+65) 6536 8622 F: (+47) 55 54 05 01