FEATURE: US LPG shipments to Asia on track for steady flows in 2021
US LPG shipments to Asia will remain strong in 2021, with about 2.9 million mt estimated to arrive in January 2021, more than 2.7 million mt for December arrivals, lending support to Very Large Gas Carrier rates, traders said.
US shipments are propane-heavy, with butane normally making up 20% of the volume, though some can comprise cargoes that are evenly split, or 33,000 mt of propane and 11,000 mt of butane, trade sources said.
The ample US shipments come as Chinese petrochemical sector demand for propane feedstock held firm amid high domestic prices of propylene, which are in short supply, sources said.
Asia-Pacific LR1 freight hits over 6-month high on strong China exports: sources
The Asia-Pacific Long Range 1, or LR1, tanker rates have hit their highest in over six months as many ships have been taken up for loading oil products out of China, delaying their return to the Persian Gulf, market participants said Dec. 10.
However, the increase in bunker prices implies that a large part of the gains in freight have not translated to a proportionate increase in earnings for owners.
Among the fixtures heard, ExxonMobil has placed an LR1 on subjects around w125 for naphtha loading early next week on the Persian Gulf-Singapore route, which typically translates to around w110 for a benchmark Persian Gulf-Japan voyage, a level last seen at the beginning of June, Platts data showed.