StealthGas INC Weekly Market Report 19 - June - 2009 26 - June - 2009

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30 Jun 2009

NWE/MED - In the NWE coaster market, this week was not as active as last week and not many enquiries seen, only a few fixtures finally concluded. Tonnage availability has not increased as much as expected as most of the trader re-lets were quickly absorbed into charterers’ schedules or fixed prompt. The cargoes that were seen circulated in the market had a hard time finding suitable tonnage and generally demand was lower than previous weeks. In the propane coaster market, activity remained at the usual low levels as prices dropped slightly this week and interest was seen from petchems acquiring some tonnes. In the butane coaster market, activity was also subdued as most June requirements had been taken care of well in advance and players were mainly in the market for 2H July requirements. 

In the MED now, activity in the region remains week and worse off than NWE as there is a substantial number of vessels open looking for business. Very few fixtures were concluded due to unsuitable cargoes and lack of any real demand. In the butane coaster market, cargo availability remains tight and the product that is sourced from refineries is picked up by petchems. A tender with delivery end June/beg July from Morocco was awarded this week which will be carried out from NWE as supply in the MED is short. In the propane coaster market on the other hand activity is quite quiet due to weak demand and fully stocked market. In the refrigerated cargoes sector, demand continues to be shown by petchems which are the main buyers. 

SEA/FEAST

In the SEA mrkt, activity was somewhat subdued to previous weeks as lpg prices dropped on the back of falling crude and Naphtha prices. Demand from China weakened as inland prices dropped and were more attractive for buyers thus activity was lower and in anticipation of better circumstances.

In the FEAST, the drop in crude and naphtha prices also affected this trading area which saw demand drop considerably (more specifically, demand for butane cargoes dropped because of the decrease in crude and naphtha prices). The number of cargoes traded was substantially weaker this week as most requirements have been covered, but in China we saw some buying interest as a few cargoes were reportedly bought for 2HJuly delivery and many tenders issued mainly by Taiwanese and Vietnamese traders were finally awarded for 2H July deliveries; therefore it seems that there will be fresh interest for 2h July cargoes which will likely revive the situation.


Time Charter Fixtures
Sunny Green (78,000 cbm, blt 1992) was fixed for 3 years time charter to acct E1 with del AG/sept 09 – hire reported around USD 600k pcm.
Annapurna (22,000 cbm) was extended for 12 months t/c in direct continuation to current acct IOC with del MEG/June – hnr.
Gaschem Snow (10,500 cbm, blt 1995) was reported to be extended for 12 months T/C in direct continuation to current time charter with a/c Fertiberia starting Jan 2010 – hire reported at high USD 500’s
Gent (25,000 cbm) was fixed for 2-3 months T/C to acct Transammonia with del Caribs/1h July –hnr
M.Krishnatreya (35,000 cbm) was fixed for 12 months T/C to acct BPCL with delivery MEG/1h July – hire reported at arnd USD 600’s
Harriet N (56,000 cbm, blt 1980) was fixed for 2 months T/C to acct Koch with del July – hire reported arnd high USD 400’s


Sale and Purchase/New Buildings
None Reported.

Scrapping
Sigloo Norse (8,305 cbm, blt 1982, ethylene carrier) was reported sold for scrap to Indian breakers – price reported around USD 3 mill.



Source: StealthGas INC

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