Freight
Overview
Oil, gas and dry cargoes are being shipped all over the world every day. With seaborne transportation comes exposure to shipping costs. Be it via direct cost or through the prices of feedstocks or finished products, a freight factor is always there. Highly sensitive to market shifts, geopolitics and regulations, freight is a complex and volatile part of every trade.
To manage this exposure, industry participants, from producers and traders to government agencies and financial institutions rely on our freight data for contracts, pricing formulas, analytics and arbitrage tracking.
Argus Freight consists of three dedicated services, covering trade flows for tankers, dry bulk and gas markets. Each service provides daily freight indexes, industry-specific news, market analysis and exclusive content. This enables you to connect the dots between commodity prices and shipping costs, giving you a complete view of the supply chain.
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Idemitsu, Kanematsu start biofuel supply for ships
Idemitsu, Kanematsu start biofuel supply for ships
Osaka, 3 December (Argus) — Japanese refiner Idemitsu and trading house Kanematsu have started supplying biofuel mixed with fatty acid methyl ester (Fame) for oceangoing ships, to help reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the maritime sector, the companies said today. In October, Idemitsu began bunkering cleaner fuel oil, which includes up to 24pc of Fame, for oceangoing ships, using Kanematsu' storage and shipping facilities in southern Japan's Kokura, a spokesperson at Idemitsu told Argus on 3 December. Under this partnership, Kanematsu procures Fame and blends it with fuel oil supplied by Idemitsu. The Fame mixture will cut GHG emissions by around 20pccompared with conventional fuel, Kanematsu said. Idemitsu aims to deliver a total of 5,000t of bio-blended fuel by March 2026, including supply for domestic vessels. This is equivalent to the amount of fuel consumed by a 300,000 dwt vessel during about 50 days of operation, the company added. The start of their commercial operations comes after Idemitsu's demonstration in northern Hokkaido , where it tested bunkering operations for coastal vessels with fuel containing 24pc Fame in 2023-24. Idemitsu is also gearing up to develop a supply chain for low-carbon methanol for vessels, aiming to start methanol bunkering from the April 2026-March 2027 fiscal year. By Motoko Hasegawa Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Maersk considers shipping return to Suez Canal
Maersk considers shipping return to Suez Canal
London, 25 November (Argus) — Danish shipowner Maersk is considering a return to the Suez Canal, but has not set a date for this. "Maersk will take steps to resume navigation along the East-West corridor via the Suez Canal and the Red Sea and over time normalise the transits on this route," the company said. "This will proceed as soon as conditions allow, with safety of our crew as the top priority." Suez traffic has shrunk drastically since the start of the Yemen-based Houthi militant group's attacks in November 2023, with shipowners often preferring the route around the Cape of Good Hope. This makes for a longer voyage and higher bunker fuel consumption . Maersk today signed a partnership agreement with the Suez Canal Authority (SCA), which itself indicated the shipowner's return might start as early as December. But Maersk told Argus it has not settled on a timeline. Its chief executive Vincent Clerc said earlier in November that any return was dependent on the Houthi ceasefire holding. The SCA said today it has been in discussions with various shipowners and that container shipowner CMA CGM will return to the canal. The French company has not committed to a timeline, but its Benjamin Franklin transited the canal and the Bab el-Mandeb strait in early November, marking one of the first passages by a large containership owner since the Houthi attacks worsened. CMA CGM's Jules Verne has also passed through the canal in recent weeks. To spur a return to general passage by key shipowners the SCA has adopted a package of flexible pricing policies that include a 15pc reduction for container ships with a tonnage exceeding 130,000t. By John Ollett Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Crude tanker order book at 9-year high
Crude tanker order book at 9-year high
New York, 20 November (Argus) — The crude tanker orderbook last month reached a nine-year high relative to the existing fleet, but the outlook for future fleet growth is clouded by questions around recycling of older sanctioned and shadow fleet tankers. The order book-to-fleet ratio for crude tankers ended October at 14.1pc, the highest since 2016, according to shipping association Bimco. Recycling of older ships is crucial to balanced supply, and with 18.2pc of the fleet 20 years or older, the recycling potential is larger than the orderbook, according to Bimco. Vessels older than 20 years often face age restrictions from large international charterers, according to shipbroker BRS. However, 7.9pc of the recycling potential for the global crude tanker fleet comes from vessels sanctioned by the UK, US or EU, which restricts their sale and further delays recycling, Bimco chief shipping analyst Niels Rasmussen told Argus . Crude tanker demolitions remain low, especially for very large crude carriers (VLCCs), which have not had a confirmed demolition since 2022, according to BRS. This lack of demolitions reflects demand for so-called "shadow" fleet vessels engaged in oil trade of dubious legality. Generally, earnings for mainstream VLCCs since the second half of 2022 have also helped keep VLCCs away from the demolition yard, said the shipbroker. Time charter equivalent earnings (TCE) for VLCCs loading out of Saudi Arabia into China have averaged $47,248/d so far in 2025, up by $28,380/d from their 2022 average, according to Argus data. For US Gulf loading VLCCs into China, TCEs in 2025 averaged $42,835/d, up by $59,615/d from negative levels in 2022. "We understand that five VLCCs have recently been sold for demolition recently," the shipbroker said. "However, we would be unsurprised if these ships would eventually end up in the [shadow] fleet rather than at a breaker's yard." By Charlotte Bawol Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Further rise in LNG freight rates spurs repositioning
Further rise in LNG freight rates spurs repositioning
London, 19 November (Argus) — An extended rise in Atlantic basin LNG spot charter rates has further widened the freight spread between basins, incentivising shipowners to ballast their vessels in the Pacific to the US Gulf coast via the Panama Canal to capitalise on higher Atlantic rates. Argus ' ARV5 round-trip spot charter rates for intra-Atlantic basin voyages rose to $110,000/d on Wednesday from $86,000/d on Friday, when rates had surged by $55,000/d in less than a month . The corresponding ARV4 rate for intra-Pacific voyages rose to $69,000/d from $60,000/d in the same period. The steeper rise in Atlantic rates appears to have incentivised some owners to reposition their Pacific basin LNG carriers to the US Gulf coast, even though they would be responsible for the ballast leg and any associated Panama Canal transit fees. The empty 174,000m³ Aristos I and the empty 173,400m³ Kinisis have both operated in the Pacific basin in recent months, but are travelling eastwards from northeast Asia and have declared for Balboa, the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal. These two vessels on Wednesday were travelling at 17.5 knots and 20 knots, respectively, quicker than the typical maximum speed of 16.5 knots for LNG carriers utilising natural boil-off gas, implying the ships are either supplementing with fuel oil or using a forcing vaporiser to regasify more LNG to run the vessels. The faster-than-usual speeds indicate the vessels are looking to arrive in the US Gulf for first half of December loading, the current premium window in the market. Based on prevailing speeds, both the Aristos I and Kinisis could arrive in the US Gulf by 10 December, assuming there is no congestion at the Panama Canal. The latest fixture heard in the market for a first-half December loading in the US Gulf closed at $145,000/d, with US LNG producer Cheniere sub-letting a vessel to German utility EnBW, market participants said. If the Aristos I and Kinisis are chartered out on similar rates, the ballast leg costs — accounting for the loss of Pacific basin income at $69,000/d, boil-off usage at around $10/mn Btu — could be recovered with an Atlantic basin charter of around 42 days, should the owners be able to secure a northbound Neopanamax slot at the auction minimum bid of $100,000, based on Argus calculations ( see table ). If the owners have already secured a regular Neopanamax slot, which typically costs around $665,000 for a ballast transit, its breakeven Atlantic basin charter would be even lower at 40 days. The most expensive northbound Neopanamax slot awarded to an LNG carrier so far this year closed at over $1.7mn in August, for the 174,000m³ Maran Gas Kimolos . If the shipowners need to bid at these levels, the breakeven charter would need to be at least 61 days. But the charter length required to make up the cost of the ballast leg — if owners are able to obtain rates at or higher than $145,000/d — has more than halved compared with a week ago. Moving Pacific basin vessels to the Atlantic was too risky last week, but with early-December fixtures closing at well over $100,000/d at present, the financial incentive has improved to a point where owners may take the risk, market participants said. If more vessels choose to reposition from the Pacific to the Atlantic and increase available supply, rates would likely come under pressure and the incentive to ballast to the US Gulf would fall again. Several empty vessels intended for the 14mn t/yr LNG Canada plant are holding in the mid-Pacific, and would be able to arrive in the US Gulf via the Panama Canal in the first week of December under the same assumptions. By Bonnie Lao Pacific to Atlantic ballast breakeven Scenario Breakeven days Atlantic rate at $145,000/d, Pacific at $69,000/d Loss of Pacific income + regular neopanamax transit fee 40 Loss of Pacific income + minimum neopanamax bid 42 Loss of Pacific income + maximum 2025 neopanamax cost 61 Atlantic rate at $110,000/d, Pacific at $69,000/d Loss of Pacific income + regular neopanamax transit fee 72 Loss of Pacific income + minimum neopanamax bid 74 Loss of Pacific income + maximum 2025 neopanamax cost 115 Atlantic rate at $85,000/d, Pacific at $55,000/d Loss of Pacific income + regular neopanamax transit fee 90 Loss of Pacific income + minimum neopanamax bid 94 Loss of Pacific income + maximum 2025 neopanamax cost 150 *assumes boil-off costs of around $10/mn Btu Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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