The seasonal strength that usually boosts the tanker market each winter could fall flat this year, Evercore's Jonathan Chappell said.
The analyst said November's freight forward agreements (FFA) for a VLCC voyage from the Middle East Gulf to the Far East suggest rates of $25,000 per day "right in the sweet spot of the start of the winter trade".
"FFAs are certainly not the best predictive tool for spot rates, but trends and direction help to form a view on sentiment for those intimately involved in the shipping trades," Chappell wrote in a weekly note on Monday.
