SinoShip News: Unipec Dominates VLCC Spot Market

12 Jan 2015: “New York: In its annual review of the tanker trades Poten & Partners has revealed Unipec Unipec remains number one in the overall ranking of reported dirty spot charterers for 2014, its third straight year at the top of the charts. With 815 reported fixtures, they represented 7.8% of the total dirty spot market activity, again edging oil major Shell, which retained second place with 758 fixtures. “Unipec further expanded its dominant position in VLCCs, Poten reported. With 566 reported fixtures Unipec represented 28.4% of the reported VLCC spot market in 2014, more than the next five largest VLCC charterers combined. Together, Chinese companies covered approximately 40% of the reported spot VLCC spot market. “‘We are expecting an interesting year in the oil and tanker market. With the rapid decline in oil prices and a healthy rate environment, we are off to a good start!’ the New York-based broker concluded.”