SUBSCRIBER NOTE: Platts to launch USGC-Europe Suezmax freight assessments

S&P Global Platts will launch US Gulf Coast-UK Continent and USGC-Mediterranean freight assessments for the Suezmax tanker market, effective April 1.

The new tanker assessments were first proposed in a subscriber note published February 14. (https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/our-methodology/subscriber-notes/021419-p latts-proposes-to-launch-usgc-europe-suezmax-freight-assessments)

This is to reflect the increasing volume of crude exports in Suezmax tankers from the US Gulf Coast to Europe, following the lifting of the US crude export ban in December 2015.

The new assessments will be assessed on a Worldscale basis and published as Worldscale points. Platts will also publish the equivalent US dollar per metric ton value for these assessments.

The new freight assessments are:

USGC-UK Continent: This assessment will reflect the cost of transporting a 145,000 mt cargo on a dirty Suezmax tanker from the US Gulf Coast to the UK Continent, for loading seven to 25 days forward. The assessment will reflect loadings from Houston, Galveston Offshore Lighterage and Corpus Christi in Texas; and discharge at Rotterdam, Netherlands, and Fawley, UK.

USGC-Mediterranean: This assessment will reflect the cost of transporting a 145,000 mt cargo on a dirty Suezmax tanker from the US Gulf Coast to the Mediterranean, for loading seven to 25 days forward. The assessment will reflect loadings from Houston, Galveston Offshore Lighterage and Corpus Christi in Texas; and discharge at Cartagena, Spain; Trieste, Italy; and Lavera, France.

Symbols will be as follows: Dirty USGC-UKC Suezmax 145kt $/mt: TDUKW00 Dirty USGC-UKC Suezmax 145kt $/mt MAvg: TDUKW03 Dirty USGC-UKC Suezmax 145kt Wsc: TDDUK00 Dirty USGC-UKC Suezmax 145kt Wsc MAvg: TDDUK03 Dirty USGC-UKC Suezmax 145kt cargo size: TDDUKSZ Dirty USGC-Med Suezmax 145kt $/mt: TDUMW00 Dirty USGC-Med Suezmax 145kt $/mt MAvg: TDUMW03 Dirty USGC-Med Suezmax 145kt Wsc: TDDUM00 Dirty USGC-Med Suezmax 145kt Wsc MAvg: TDDUM03 Dirty USGC-Med Suezmax 145kt cargo size: TDDUMSZ

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