French orders to foreign shipyards

60
700,000
600,000
500,000
400,000
300,000
200,000
100,000
0
Dwt
An identical trend occurred on the ex-Mediterranean
trade to Europe. On this route, increased activity was
generated mainly in spot cargoes of lubricants, chemicals
and acids. Freight rates for 3,000 tonne cargoes on a
West Coast Italy/Rotterdam route reached around
$24/tonne in September, a modest rise compared to the
$22-23/tonne figures of last March.
In the United States/Europe direction, the market progressed
slightly after levelling off in the early part of the year.
Freight rates for 3000 tonne cargoes of easy chemicals
on the Houston/Rotterdam route began to climb after
July, rising from $25/tonne at the beginning of March to
$30/tonne. These rates have held steady at that level
over the last few months. The increase in freight rates
was mainly due to higher consumption related to healthy
economies in northern Europe.
As for the Europe/United States routes, the market was
less profitable for shipowners, as September freight rates
remained at nearly the same level as last March. Freight
rates for 5,000-7,000 tonne cargoes of easy chemicals
on a Rotterdam/Houston route reached levels of
$18.50/tonne compared with $17/tonne last March.
Freight rates increased during the second quarter to
$22/tonne during the last two weeks of April, then fell
back down again with the approach of summer. This market
experienced intermittent highs caused by momentary
shortages of available ships, which sometimes led to delays
or to the withdrawal of certain cargoes.
The three or four shipowners operating parcel tankers
have continued to dominate the Europe/Far East market,
and this situation has had the effect of reducing erratic
freight rate fluctuations. The very structure of this market,
in conjunction with the overall improvement of Asian
economies has resulted in shipowners obtaining satisfactory
load factors for their ships.
Chemical carriers on order as at January 1, 2000
(in deadweight)
4-6,000 dwt
6-10,000 dwt
10-20,000 dwt
over 20,000 dwt
delivered in 1999 2000 2001 2002
As an example, freight rates for 3,000 tonne cargoes of
easy chemicals outbound from Rotterdam to the major
Far Eastern ports rose from $44/tonne in March to
$53/tonne at the end of September. Freight rates for
1000 tonne cargoes requiring stainless steel tanks from
Rotterdam to major Far Eastern ports likewise rose from
$55/tonne in early March to around $67/tonne by the end
of September.
Despite the various freight rate increases that appeared
in several markets over the last months, it is important to
note that bunker oil prices have practically doubled this year
and the consequence in terms of net results per voyage has
been a fall in profits on most routes.
The continued weakness of the spot market has had an
identical effect on the time charter market. Existing charter
rates were reduced in order to maintain them. Some
companies are beginning to consider taking on longer
charter periods (1/1/1 year), provided that they can get
options for profitable terms that will enable them to take
advantage of a possible upturn in the spot market.
However, with the number of newbuildings that remain
to be delivered in the second half of 1999 and in early
2000, it is hard to be optimistic about increases in time
charter rates.
The fleet of chemical carriers continued to grow at a dizzying
rate over the first six months of the year. On 31 October,
the world fleet numbered 1,754 vessels displacing
23.4 million dwt.
The chemical carrier market is still dealing with a very
large number of newbuilding orders that were placed
in 1997 and the beginning of 1998. Last year, the total
number of vessels delivered was 111, accounting for 2.1
million dwt. This represents an increase of 40% over