Tanker: Market remains elevated
The tanker market remains strong, despite average crude tanker earnings slightly decreasing by 2% week-on-week. VLCC rates remain elevated despite a minor softening. The Aframax segment saw strong performance. Looking ahead, both the Suexmax and Aframax segments are expected to remain strong in the near future due to tight tonnage lists.

LPG/VLGC: Firmer sentiment as vessels reposition pre-thanksgiving
The VLGC market experienced some firming, as vessels moved toward the United States Gulf last week. However, there was decent activity in both the East and West in the LPG spot market. There was a surprising flurry of fixture pre-thanksgiving, which had an unexpected effect on the market last week. A clear sense of market direction is expected to emerge post-thanksgiving this week.

PCTC: Utilisation outlook strengthens
Volkswagen has decided move manufacturing of its electric vehicles from Germany to China, claiming that EV development is 50% cheaper in China, citing faster development cycles, lower labour costs and locally integrated battery supply chains. This is expected to increase car carrier utilization in the upcoming years. Additionally, European car sales increased 4.9% in the month of October.

Geopolitical: China boosts crude import quotas
Beijing has granted an additional 7.4 million tonnes of crude imports to refineries to be used by the end of 2025, lifting the total allowance to about 203 million metric tons. The move could push December crude imports up by roughly 1.5 million barrels per day, with seaborne flows likely nearing 13 million barrels per day. Since refineries are not expected to increase runs by much, most of the extra barrels will probably head into storage, drawing on crude already in transit or held in bonded tanks, including Russian and Iranian volumes.