The week in charts: Crude tanker rates up double digits | Red Sea monthly transits fall slightly | Containership sale and purchase market remains resilient
Lloyd’s List’s weekly showing of the data and figures behind our news, analysis and markets coverage
VLCC, suezmax and aframax rates are all strong — for different reasons — with VLCC rates viewed as most resilient; Passings through the Bab el Mandeb and Suez Canal fell but transits remain within ‘new normal’ range; There is an anomaly amid the gloom over tariffs and the plunge in Chinese cargoes to the US: spot rates on the transpacific are slightly up
SPOT rates for very large crude carriers have posted impressive gains, the orderbook remains very low, owner balance sheets are exceptionally strong, and Middle East exports are finally on the rise, wrote senior maritime reporter Greg Miller.
And yet tanker stocks were trading “at valuation discounts only seen before in periods of liquidity and going-concern risks”, said Evercore ISI analyst Jon Chappell in his latest quarterly tanker outlook.
The Baltic Exchange VLCC time charter equivalent index was at $52,849 per day on Monday, April 28, up 34% from April 15 and up 32% year on year. The Baltic’s suezmax TCE index was at $60,899 per day, up 44% year on year. The Baltic’s aframax index, at $45,056 per day, was up 11% year on year.
Red Sea monthly transits fall slightly after busy March
Traffic through the Red Sea’s beleaguered international shipping lane remains within the “new normal” range after transits through its two chokepoints fell in April, reported senior risk analyst Bridget Diakun.
Over the course of last month, 979 cargo-carrying ships sailed through the Bab el Mandeb, down 4% from the 1,018 recorded in March, according to Lloyd’s List Intelligence data.
Vehicle carriers, which have been among the most inactive users of the Bab el Mandeb during the Houthi’s campaign of aggression, experienced an unusual jump in transits last month. Some 12 vehicle carriers transited the Bab el Mandeb in April, up from eight in March. This is the highest number recorded since April 2024.
Chinese flows to US falling but transpacific rates holding steady
When cargo volume from China falls — whether it’s due to a holiday closure in Asia or a seasonal lull in the US — spot rates tend to fall. But transpacific spot rates have not declined amid widespread reports of a plunge in China cargo bound for the US, reported Greg Miller.
The Shanghai Containerized Freight Index released its freight assessments ahead of schedule last week, and readings continue to show rate resilience in the transpacific trade.
The 145% tariffs on US imports China went into effect on April 9. The SCFI indexes are relatively flat, and actually up slightly, since the tariffs took effect.
The SCFI Shanghai-US west coast assessment for last week came in at $2,272, up 6% from the prior week and 3% from the week of April 11, when the 145% tariffs took effect. Shanghai-US west coast rates are up 21% from the seasonal low reached in the week of March 21.
Containership sale and purchase market remains resilient
The containership sale and purchase market continues to be stable in terms of numbers of sales and vessel asset values, but there is potential for a two-tier market developing as some buyers shun China-built boxships, reported markets editor Rob Willmington.
Braemar said while buyers appeared to be becoming more cautious in their decision making, continued uncertainty in the container markets had “yet to rock the sale and purchase boat”. “The market is proving its resilience and is following in much the same vein as previous weeks,” added Braemar.
It reported there had been several non-China-built 2,500 teu and 2,800 teu ships sold to Greek buyers after having been on the sale market for several weeks.
