The sanctions on Iranian energy, shipbuilding, shipping and banking sectors imposed last year have forced South Korea to look for alternative sources of condensates, thereby impacting tonne-mile demand.
Moreover, as Asian petchem consumption is likely to slow down, intra-regional trade will weaken and will, therefore, lead to lower charter rates for small gas carriers, according to Drewry.
As explained, the petchem sector in South Korea is said to be faced with a ‘double-edged sword’ — on the one hand, the sanctions on Iran have forced Korea to look for alternative sources of feedstock, and on the other, declining petchem prices and weaker economic forecasts for South Korea’s major petchem consumers, such as China and Japan, have reduced the demand for South Korean.
