There still are no visible signs of a sustainable recovery in the tanker markets, as industry players like Frontline, Ship Finance International and Nordic American Tankers mentioned this week, during their second half results.
According to Frontline, in the crude markets during the second quarter, the rate "for a VLCC trading on a standard 'TD3' voyage between the Arabian Gulf and Japan in the second quarter of 2012 was WS 55, representing a decrease of approximately WS 1 point from the first quarter of 2012 and a decrease of approximately WS 3 points from the second quarter of 2011. Present market indications are approximately negative $3,000 per day in the third quarter of 2012.
The market rate for a Suezmax trading on a standard 'TD5' voyage between West Africa and Philadelphia in the second quarter of 2012 was WS 72.9, representing a decrease of approximately WS 9.3 points from the first quarter of 2012 and an increase of WS 3.8 points from the second quarter of 2011. Current market indications are approximately $10,000 per day in the third quarter of 2012. Bunkers at Fujairah averaged $662/mt in the second quarter of 2012 compared to $730/mt in the first quarter of 2012. Bunker prices varied between a low of $663/mt on June 22 and a high of $739/mt at the beginning of the quarter" the company said. Demand-wise it said that "the International Energy Agency's ("IEA") August 2012 report stated an OPEC oil production, including Iraq, of 31.4 million barrels per day (mb/d) in June and July 2012.
This was an increase of 55 kb/d compared to the first quarter of 2012. The IEA estimates that world oil demand averaged 88.8 mb/d in the second quarter of 2012, which is a decrease of 600,000 barrels compared to previous quarter and the IEA estimates that world oil demand will average approximately 89.6 mb/d in 2012, representing an increase of 0.3 percent or 0.3 mb/d from 2011. 2013 demand is expected to be 90.5 mb/d with non-OECD demand exceeding OECD, a trend that is unlikely to be reversed" it said. In terms of supply, Frontline noted that "the VLCC fleet totalled 610 vessels at the end of the second quarter of 2012, up from 598 vessels at the end of the previous quarter.
12 VLCCs were delivered during the quarter, none removed. The order book counted 95 vessels at the end of the second quarter, down from 111 orders from the previous quarter. The current order book represents approximately 16 percent of the VLCC fleet. According to Fearnleys, the single hull fleet currently stands unchanged at 23 vessels.
The Suezmax fleet counts 468 vessels at the end of the second quarter, up from 451 vessels at the end of the previous quarter. 17 vessels were delivered during the quarter whilst none were removed. The order book counted 79 vessels at the end of the second quarter, down from 96 vessels at the end of the previous quarter. No new orders were placed during the quarter and the current order book now represents 17 percent of the total fleet. According to Fearnleys, the single hull fleet stands unchanged at nine vessels. In a separate report, Nordic American Tankers, which addressed its stakeholders said that "the fundamentals seem to be slowly turning in our favour. In our sector, the orderbook for new Suezmax vessels is shrinking rapidly. By the end of next year, fleet growth will virtually come to a standstill. Whilst no guarantees are given, seen in the context of potentially growing oil demand, this would suggest that a recovery in spot rates for our vessels could be on the horizon; the markets often turn quickly. The main point for NAT is that we have a strategy that is designed to work in all markets no matter how challenging they are. We see now, however, that 3Q2012 is expected to be weaker than 2Q2012" the company said.
Finally, in the product tanker segment, Frontline noted that "according to the IEA, global distillate demand continues to look strong through 2013 despite recent weakness, as the construction and manufacturing sectors gradually becomes more robust. Global gas/diesel oil demand is set to rise by 260 kb/d in 2012 and by 345 kb/d in 2013 to 26.6 mb/d. Jet/Kerosene demand is forecast to rise by 60kb/d in 2013 to 6.5 mb/d. Considerable growth in Asia and Oceania, caused by post-tsunami additions to Japan (fuel oil and “other products”) and the robust expansion that continues to be seen in Korea, balance out modest declines elsewhere. Gas/diesel oil proved to be the strongest products, as a result of strong industrial demand in many nations, notably Korea and Australia. OECD Pacific plus Pacific saw a 5.8 percent year-on-year growth in June. In Europe, on the other hand, the product demand remains relatively bleak reflecting the ailing state of the economic backdrop. Gasoline remains one of the worst performing products, down 3.3 percent in June to 2.1 mb/d, a consequence of record unemployment rates.
The MR fleet totalled 1,504 vessels at the end of the second quarter of 2012, up from 1,495 vessels at the end of the previous quarter. The orderbook counted 150 vessels at the end of the second quarter, which represents approximately 10 percent of the MR fleet. The LR2 fleet totalled 214 vessels at the end of the second quarter of 2012, up from 212 vessels at the end of the previous quarter. The order book counted 12 vessels at the end of the second quarter. The, current order book represents approximately 5.6 percent of the LR2 fleet" the company concluded.