Platts proposes to change cargo size for Persian Gulf-Japan VLCC freight assessment

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, proposes to change the cargo size reflected in its Persian Gulf to Japan VLCC freight assessment to 270,000 mt, effective Nov. 1, 2022, from 265,000 mt currently, to better reflect trade flows on this route.

Almost 80% of all trade flows on this route from January 2016 to July 2022 comprised tankers carrying 270,000 mt crude cargoes, according to trade flow data from Platts cFlow ship and commodity tracking software from S&P Global Commodity Insights.

Platts understands that there are now more shallow draft VLCCs in the global fleet that able to call at most shallow-water Japanese ports with the larger 270,000 mt cargoes. Japan imported around 2.7 million b/d of crude during H1 2022, with almost 97% of it originating from the Middle East, according to data from Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

The affected assessments are:

These assessments appear on Platts Global Alert pages 2980, 2981, 0905 and Platts Shipping Alert pages 440 and 441; in the Dirty Tankerwire; and in the Platts price database under the codes above.

Please send any feedback, comments or questions to shipping@spglobal.com and pricegroup@spglobal.com by Sep. 30, 2022.

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