Platts discontinues two Caribbean-loading tanker freight assessments

S&P Global Platts has discontinued its 38,000 mt Medium Range Caribbean-US Gulf Coast clean tanker and 150,000 mt Suezmax Caribbean-US Atlantic Coast dirty tanker assessments, effective October 1, 2021, due to a significant drop in spot liquidity on those routes in recent years.

Platts first proposed these discontinuations in a subscriber note published June 25: https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/our-methodology/subscriber-notes/062521-platts-proposes-to-discontinue-two-caribbean-loading-tanker-freight-assessments

Clean Tanker 38,000 mt Caribbean-USGC Assessment: Exports of naphtha from the Caribbean to the USGC have been decreasing in recent years, which has led to significantly fewer spot fixtures on this route, Platts understands. From 2016 through 2018, Platts observed just 10 spot fixtures for clean petroleum products on this route; this has fallen to just two fixtures from 2019 through the first half of 2021, further exacerbated by US sanctions on Venezuela. Additionally, the majority of trade flows on this route have shifted to a term/contract basis since 2017, Platts understands, with vessels now primarily carrying methanol and Urea Ammonium Nitrate (UAN), which typically trade at a premium to clean product cargoes such as naphtha or gasoline, due to cleaning requirements in the tanks.

This discontinuation affects the following:

Assessment Code

Clean Caribbean-USGC 38kt Wsc AALPB00

Clean Caribbean-USGC 38kt Wsc MAvg AALPC00

Clean Caribbean-USGC 38kt $/mt AALPN00

Clean Caribbean-USGC 38kt $/mt MAvg AALPO00

Clean Caribbean-USGC 38kt Cargo Size AALPBSZ

These assessments were previously published in the Clean Tankerwire and Clean Tankerwire Monthly publications; on Platts Global Alert pages 1912 and 1913, and on Platts Shipping Alert pages 2320 and 2321, and in the Platts price database under the codes above.

Dirty Tanker 150,000 mt Caribbean-USAC Assessment: Platts understands that there is no longer a spot flow of crude on this route due to overall reduced refinery capacity on the USAC as well as a shift in the sourcing of crude to Canada, West Africa and Europe instead, in recent years. Platts trade flow software cFlow shows that the most recent Suezmax voyages on this route were in 2018, when a total of three cargoes were shipped.

This discontinuation affects the following:

Assessment Code

Dirty Caribbean-USAC 150kt Wsc PFAOA00

Dirty Caribbean-USAC 150kt Wsc Mavg PFAGQ03

Dirty Caribbean-USAC 150kt $/mt TDAAW00

Dirty Caribbean-USAC 150kt $/mt Mavg TDAAW03

Dirty Caribbean-USAC 150kt cargo size PFAOASZ

These assessments were previously published in the Dirty Tankerwire and the Dirty Tankerwire Monthly publications; on Platts Global Alert pages 1972 and 1973, and on Platts Shipping Alert pages 2440 and 2441; and in the Platts price database under the codes above.

Please send any further feedback, comments or questions to shipping@spglobal.com and pricegroup@spglobal.com. For written comments, please provide a clear indication if comments are not intended for publication by Platts for public viewing. Platts will consider all comments received and will make comments not marked as confidential available to the public upon request.