Spot earnings of crude tankers collapsed on Tuesday amid oil demand worries in China, the world’s largest seaborne crude importing nation by far.
The Baltic Exchange assessed non-scrubber VLCC earnings on the benchmark Middle East Gulf (MEG)-China route at $18,166 per day, down $8,514 from the day-ago level and the lowest in six months.
Market participants suggested the fall mainly resulted from weakening sentiment, with reports of oil demand reduction in China due to the coronavirus outbreak.
