Tides Changing in West Africa

For the first time since the second quarter of the year, we have multiple ships open for prompt loading dates both on the medium range and small ship segment; in both hub ports of Lome for Gasoil / other distillates and Lagos for gasoline cargos.

Charterers have become more intransigent on their bids for these ships, with more owners conceding to their rate ideas.

15’000 tons of gasoline from Lagos load port to Oghara discharge port was fixed at $65,000 per day for a minimum of 10 days. With less gasoline cargos in the market, we predict that the market rates for the Nigerian coastal routes will decline.

There is some speculation that less marketers are paying for their approved PFIs due to high bank charges and interest rates whilst some are waiting in anticipation that Dangote refinery will commence sale of premium motor spirit from the refinery by the end of next week and would rather monitor the market before executing their trade.

This week saw a delay in berthing activities in Lagos port as a result of the strike action of the Nigerian Labour congress which was later suspended for five business days.

If the federal government and Labour unions are unable to reach an agreement before the end of the period being Tuesday 11th June 2024, which also coincides with the eve of the Muslim Salah celebration/ Bank holiday, there is some likelihood that we would see a repeat in port delays this week.