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Oil, gas and dry cargoes are being shipped all over the world every day. With seaborne transportation comes exposure to shipping costs. Be it via direct cost or through the prices of feedstocks or finished products, a freight factor is always there. Highly sensitive to market shifts, geopolitics and regulations, freight is a complex and volatile part of every trade.

To manage this exposure, industry participants, from producers and traders to government agencies and financial institutions rely on our freight data for contracts, pricing formulas, analytics and arbitrage tracking.

Argus Freight consists of three dedicated services, covering trade flows for tankers, dry bulk and gas markets. Each service provides daily freight indexes, industry-specific news, market analysis and exclusive content. This enables you to connect the dots between commodity prices and shipping costs, giving you a complete view of the supply chain.

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10/05/24

Lack of infrastructure to hamper VLAC development

Lack of infrastructure to hamper VLAC development

London, 10 May (Argus) — Development of a very large ammonia carrier (VLAC) market could be delayed by a lack of terminal infrastructure to allow discharge of 40,000-60,000t cargoes, said Steem1960 ammonia shipbroker Lisa Maria Assmann at the Argus Clean Ammonia conference in Tokyo. Around 40 VLACs are scheduled to hit the water between 2026 and 2028, when an uptake in clean ammonia trade is likely to be pushed by public tenders from South Korea and Japan. "VLACs cannot discharge these large volumes using the existing infrastructure," Assmann said. "We have storages that are much smaller than that, terminals with draft issues, LOA (length overall) issues. With all these problems, I do not see these large volumes being discharged in a speedy manner in the short-term, not before 2035-40 at least." In the larger segment of gas carriers, the very large gas carriers (VLGCs) built between 2009 and 2022 cannot carry ammonia cargoes, according to the shipbroker. These vessels were built when there were no expectations of carrying ammonia at such volumes, and the capability was not included to save costs at that time. "By 2030 we may have about 150 VLGCs available to carry ammonia, either at 86pc or 95pc capacity, but that is still a discussion for the future because we still do not have the infrastructure in place for the discharge," Asmann said. Ship-to-ship transfers from larger to smaller vessels could be a solution in the medium term, Assmann said, but she pondered that even then there are regulation issues that would hamper its widespread use. By Yohanna Pinheiro Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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Brazil lowers biofuel mix in flooded state


06/05/24
06/05/24

Brazil lowers biofuel mix in flooded state

Sao Paulo, 6 May (Argus) — Brazil's oil regulator ANP temporarily decreased the mandatory mix of ethanol and biodiesel in fuels in Rio Grande do Sul state for 30 days, starting on 3 May, amid floods in the region. The anhydrous ethanol blend on gasoline was lowered to 21pc from the current 27pc, while the mandatory biodiesel mix for 10ppm (S10) diesel is now at 2pc, down from the usual 14pc. The agency also temporarily suspended the blending mandate for diesel with 500ppm of sulfur (S500). ANP said it can revise deadlines depending on supply conditions in the state. Rainfall in Rio Grande do Sul blocked railways and highways where biofuels are transported to retail hubs, such as Esteio and Canoas. Supply of fossil fuels via pipeline from the 201,000 b/d Alberto Pasqualini refinery (Refap), in Canoas, and other retail bases has not been compromised, ANP said. Floods in Rio Grande do Sul have left at least 83 dead and 111 missing, according to the state government. More than 23,000 people have been forced from of their homes amid widespread damage. Over 330 cities are in a situation of public calamity. By Laura Guedes Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Indonesia’s PIS seeks MR vessels to ship oil products


06/05/24
06/05/24

Indonesia’s PIS seeks MR vessels to ship oil products

Singapore, 6 May (Argus) — Indonesia's Pertamina International Shipping (PIS) is seeking two Medium Range (MR) vessels to ship clean oil products to Sulawesi and Central Java provinces for early-May loading. PIS — a wholly-owned subsidiary of Indonesian state-owned refiner Pertamina — has issued two spot tenders. The shipments can have a maximum unavoidable transportation loss of up to 0.07pc, according to the tenders. A 200,000 bl shipment will load either from Singapore or Malaysia's Tanjung Bin, Tanjung Langsat or Pengerang during 10-11 May, before heading to two discharge ports in Indonesia's Baubau and Semarang. The tender closed at 10am Jakarta time (3am GMT) on 6 May. The firm issued another tender that closed at 2pm Jakarta time on 3 May. The 300,000 bl shipment will load from the same potential ports during 8-9 May, before heading to Indonesia's Semarang. PIS booked the 2021-built, 34,752 deadweight tonne Bowmore at $800,000 for a 200,000 bl shipment from Singapore to two discharge ports in Indonesia's Bau Bau and Wayame with loading from 17 April, through a tender that closed on 9 April . By Sean Zhuang Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

First TMX cargo booked on Aframax to China


30/04/24
30/04/24

First TMX cargo booked on Aframax to China

Houston, 30 April (Argus) — The first cargo shipped on the Trans Mountain Expansion (TMX) crude pipeline is scheduled to load on an Aframax in Vancouver, British Columbia, beginning 18 May for June delivery in China, according to sources with knowledge of the transaction. Suncor provisionally booked the Aframax Dubai Angel for a Vancouver-China voyage at $3.5mn lumpsum, equivalent to $6.39/bl for Access Western Blend, market participants said. In March, China's state-run Sinochem purchased the first TMX cargo — 550,000 bl of Canadian Access Western Blend — for June delivery. The shipping fixture would mark the first Vancouver-China crude delivery since May 2023, according to Vortexa, a possible indicator of steady Asia-Pacific demand to come with increased maritime access for Canadian oil producers. China already receives heavy sour Canadian crude re-exported from the US Gulf coast, with about 110,000 b/d arriving in 2023, Vortexa data show. The new 590,000 b/d pipeline begins commercial service on 1 May, with three Aframax-capable berths at Vancouver's Westridge Marine Terminal, up from one previously. An oversupply of Aframax crude tankers on the west coast of the Americas in anticipation of TMX-driven demand pressured Vancouver-loading rates to six-month lows on 19 April , according to Argus data, but market participants expect demand to increase beginning in the second half of May. Three regulatory approvals remained under assessment by the Canada Energy Regulator (CER) on 30 April. The applications concern piping, valves and other components at two pipeline inspection device traps and the mainline pipe between the two traps. The traps were added for safety assurance when the operator was allowed by CER to use a smaller diameter pipe as part of the Mountain 3 deviation. By Tray Swanson Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Rio Tinto, BHP WA iron ore exports up


30/04/24
30/04/24

Rio Tinto, BHP WA iron ore exports up

London, 30 April (Argus) — Iron ore shipments from Western Australia's (WA) four largest producers edged higher in the week to 27 April on the back of higher volumes exported by Rio Tinto and BHP. The four largest Pilbara iron ore producers — BHP, Fortescue, Rio Tinto and Roy Hill — loaded vessels with a combined capacity of 18.01mn dwt, up from 17.92mn dwt in the week to 20 April. The dwt capacity is the maximum capacity of a vessel and overestimates actual shipments by about 5pc. Rio Tinto's shipments reached 6.14mn dwt, from 5.81mn dwt the previous week, as the company is still recovering from the fallout of tropical Cyclone Olga. This was still less than the 2024 average so far of 6.44mn dwt. BHP's volumes ticked up to 6.19mn dwt, from 6.13mn dwt the previous week. Fortescue's iron ore loadings dropped in the week to 27 April to 4.25mn dwt, from the previous week's 4.51mn dwt, but still well above the rolling average of 3.70mn dwt. Roy Hill's exports ticked down too, but remain above the rolling average of 1.27mn dwt. The company loaded vessels with 1.42mn dwt, down from 1.45mn dwt. Overall, iron ore shipments from WA increased on the year to 69.54mn dwt on 1-28 April, compared with 65.59mn dwt in the same period year ago, according to provisional shipping data. Shipments to China rose to 57.63mn dwt, from 53.69mn dwt, across the same timeframe. By Andrey Telegin Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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