Commodities
Slumping Freight Rates Telegraph Warning on Asian Crude Demand
- Supertanker costs have faced ‘immense pressure,’ Vortexa says
- Fewer vessels head to China as pace of oil imports slows down
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The cost of shipping crude oil along key routes to Asia is slumping as supertankers take shorter trips and demand softens in China.
Freight rates for a Very Large Crude Carrier from the US to the key Asian market tumbled more than 20% since late May, while earnings on the benchmark Middle East-to-China route sank 57% in the same period, Baltic Exchange data show. Each vessel can haul a cargo totaling about 2 million barrels.