Lacklustre year for tankers ends with signs of recovery.

Catogory : Market Report

The Baltic Dirty Tanker Index closed at 827 points on Friday, having started 2017 at 1,053, after the supposed winter peak demand season turned out to be disappointing against the backdrop of the output cut by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Movement of the Baltic Clean Tanker Index also showed a lacklustre rate environment for product carriers, except for bumps that resulted from fuel supply outage, but the segment enjoyed a decent demand spike in winter.

Among the crude tanker segments, the performance of very large crude carriers has been depressing, despite a very late rate rise towards the end of the year, pressured by low exports from the Middle East.

The suezmax segment fared little better overall, but earnings were gradually bottoming up from July as Nigerian exports recovered.

Aframax rates showed a similar movement to suezmax rates, with rising exports from Libya and the US paving the ground for further recovery.