Hellenic Shipping News: POTEN LPG OPINION – AUGUST 2015

19 Aug 2015: “One of the striking features of the international LPG market in 2015 is the presence of the major Indian charterers, namely Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited and Indian Oil Corp in the market. The aforementioned companies have fixed a total of 53 VLGCs between them this year at an average lump sum rate of USD 3.7 million per vessel, according to Poten’s records. India’s imports of LPG for the first half of 2015 were 14 percent higher than for the same period in 2014 as shown by official Indian government figures. The increased number of fixtures into India has been a factor responsible for inflated spot freight rates. So far in 2015, the Baltic Index has far surpassed expectations, climbing steadily from a low of $58.6/t in early January to a high of $137.9/t on July 15th. In addition, by mid-July, spot time charter equivalent (TCE) rates were at an historic high at over USD 4 million per calendar month. “