Iran loads 317,000 mt LPG in May to China, S.Korea, SE Asia: sources
Singapore (Platts)--23May2014/628 am EDT/1028 GMT
Iran is loading eight LPG cargoes totaling 317,000 mt in May for
export to Asia, the biggest monthly volume since resuming shipments in
May 2013 following an eight-month halt on concerns over an EU ban on
shipping insurance, shipping and trade sources said Friday.
The latest May liftings indicate Iran is almost returning to export
levels seen before the July 2012 sanctions, with cargoes seen bound for
Southeast Asia and South Korea, along with China, which has dominated
purchases since February this year, they said.
"There are enough LPG ships calling at Iranian ports," one source said,
adding that there could even be a shortage of LPG cargoes from Iran to
meet demand.
South Korea's biggest LPG supplier, SK Gas, has bought a 44,000 mt mixed
LPG cargo from Iran for end-May or early-June loading, its first
purchase since November, sources said.
The cargo, comprising 33,000 mt of propane and 11,000 mt of butane, was
bought from Petrochemical Commercial Company, Iran's top exporter of
petrochemical products, and will be loaded on board the VLGC Sam Russ at
Assaluyeh port.
Price details were not known, but sources said it will be delivered on
an ex-ship basis.
Traders said SK had occasionally bought Iranian LPG last year, such as a
cargo comprising 33,000 mt of propane and 11,000 mt butane from PCC via
tender for September delivery.
The Panama-flagged Sam Russ was made available again after it was
released on May 3 from a near three-month arrest by Indian customs at
the east coast port of Haldia on suspicion of carrying an Iranian LPG
cargo, after completing bank guarantee payments.
"I heard that Sam Russ has been in Assaluyeh some days ago," one
shipping source said. Platts vessel-tracking software cFlow, showed the
VLGC still at the Iranian port.
The 1993-built Sam Russ, owned by Dubai-based Penta Ocean Ship
Management and Operations and with a gross tonnage of 42,539 mt, had
also carried Iranian cargoes for another South Korean LPG supplier E1
Corp. around May and July last year.
Prior to the May fixture for Sam Russ, the last time a South Korean
buyer loaded Iranian LPG was in January, for a 44,000 mt cargo from
Assaluyeh aboard Gas Beauty, shipping sources said. Shipping sources
said the lifter of that cargo was E1, but the company denied this.
E1 was possibly the first buyer in Asia to have bought LPG from Iran in
May last year, after an eight-month pause. It purchased around 170,000
mt of mixed LPG cargoes for loadings between May and late-August last
year, shipping sources said.
SOUTHEAST ASIA
Meanwhile, Siam Lucky Marine -- a unit of Thailand's Siamgas -- is
loading a 13,000 mt parcel on board the Senna Princess from Kharg
Petrochemical Co. at Kharg Island terminal for a Southeast Asian
destination, sources said.
Siam Lucky Marine is also loading a 44,000 mt cargo from PCC at
Assaluyeh aboard the VLGC Schumi, with the vessel bound for Southeast
Asia.
Before this, Siamgas had regularly taken Iranian cargoes to China, where
it has a 200,000 cubic meter underground LPG tank in Shantou port and
also operates the Zhuhai LPG terminal in southern China's Guangdong.
But as in recent months, most May-lifting cargoes, totaling 216,000 mt,
are destined for China, the sources said. The May liftings are similar
to levels seen in recent months: 200,000 mt in February, 190,000 mt in
March and 220,000 mt in April.
Alpine International has chartered Gas Jenny to load a 44,000 mt PCC
cargo from Bandar Imam Khomeini, or BIK, this month, to China, sources
said. Alpine has also fixed a 44,000 mt PCC cargo from Assaluyeh and BIK
on board the VLGC Alpha, and a similar cargo from the two ports on the
Gas Jasmine.
China's Jovo Energy, which has an annual term contract with National
Iranian Oil Co., is loading a 44,000 mt cargo from Assaluyeh and BIK on
the Gas Crystal.
The Gas Beryl is loading a 44,000 mt NIOC cargo from Assaluyeh, also
bound for China.
Buyers in China have access to around 10 vessels to enable them to move
Iranian cargoes, sources said.
Traders had said that Iran had been selling to China at discounts as
deep as $40/mt to the Saudi Aramco Contract Prices, FOB. Platts assesses
current FOB Persian Gulf discounts around single digit levels.
But with more interest emerging from other potential buyers, Iran might
not be ready to sell at much cheaper levels any more, one North Asian
trader said.
"When selling conditions are good, such as is for the Sam Russ cargo and
the market is good, they have no reason to sell to anybody cheaply," the
trader said. "But if buyers have no access to ships, and demand is weak,
while the quality specification is not good, then they'll have to sell
to China cheaply."
On top of these shipments to Asia, three smaller vessels -- the 5,000 mt
White Pearl, the 5,900 mt Black Pearl and the 3,600 mt Liberty N, also
call at Assaluyeh three times a month to load a total of 50,000 mt for
deliveries to Iraq under term contracts, shipping sources said.
--Ramthan Hussain, ramthan.hussain@platts.com
--Edited by Jeremy Lovell, jeremy.lovell@platts.com
Similar stories appear in LP Gaswire See more information at
http://www.platts.com/Products/lpgaswire
© 2014 Platts, The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.
To subscribe or visit go to:
http://www.platts.com
http://www.platts.com/latest-news/oil/singapore/iran-loads-317000-mt-lpg-in-may-to-china-skorea-26794910
|