The week in charts: US-Houthi ceasefire not expected to spur Red Sea return | Panama Canal yet to see tariff hit | Hope for Simandou to offset Chinese ore demand drop
Lloyd’s List’s weekly showing of the data and figures behind our news, analysis and markets coverage
US ships will not be targeted, but Houthis say Israeli ships are still ‘banned’ in Red Sea; Panama Canal numbers for April show no trade war fallout so far; Guinea’s Simandou iron ore project could increase tonne-mile demand for capesizes; Torm chief executive Jacob Meldgaard says company intends to continue to clear out older tonnage
THE US-Houthi ceasefire is not expected to usher in an immediate normalisation of Red Sea traffic, said shipping and security analysts, as the security risk remains largely unchanged, senior maritime reporter Tomer Raanan wrote.
Vespucci Maritime chief executive Lars Jensen said: “It should also be kept in mind that at the beginning of 2025, the Houthis initiated a ceasefire with the argument that as long as there was a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel in Gaza, they would stop shooting at ships. When the ceasefire was broken, the Houthis also resumed action.
“Given the current situation there is not a high probability that large merchant vessels will be in a rush to go back through the Red Sea.”
Panama Canal yet to see tariff hit, but it could be coming soon
Panama Canal traffic remained strong in April, with a rise in neopanamax transits — led by containerships — offsetting a pullback in the panamax locks, said senior maritime reporter Greg Miller.
Total transits in April fell 2% versus March, with neopanamax transits up 9% and panamax transits down 6%, according to statistics released by the Panama Canal Authority (ACP)*.
A record number of Asia-US east coast container voyages have been blanked in response to America’s 145% tariff on Chinese exports.
This will likely depress neopanamax containership transits through the canal starting in May, but voyages from Asia appear to have left early enough to keep April numbers high.
* The ACP does not release monthly transit statistics by segment or statistics on total monthly transits. It releases fiscal-year-to-date transits by segment and fiscal-year-to-date total transits since October, the beginning of its fiscal year. Lloyd’s List calculates monthly transits by comparing each month’s cumulative fiscal-year-to-date statistics.
Capesize owners hope Simandou tonne-miles will offset drop in Chinese ore demand
Guinea’s Simandou project is key to the capesize sector’s mid-term future, with owners and operators expecting an increase in tonne-miles next year, wrote news reporter Joshua Minchin.
Simandou’s ore is of significant quality, around 65%-66% iron content, which puts it on par with much of the ore mined from Brazil and slightly ahead of most Australian exports.
Its quality advantage, as well as Chinese interest, means Guinean exports will likely replace some Australian imports into China, which would see a welcome increase in tonne-mile demand.
Torm revenues lifted by improved LR1 and MR freight earnings
Danish product tanker operator Torm reported an upturn in revenues for the first quarter, following quarterly declines since the second quarter of 2024, as it benefited from improved earnings from its smaller product tanker fleets, reported markets editor Rob Willmington.
The Nasdaq Copenhagen-listed company posted a 7.8% rise in revenues for the first quarter of $329m, compared with $305m in the fourth quarter of 2024.
During the first quarter, Torm handed over three 20-year-old MR tankers, Torm Ragnhild (IMO: 9290579), Torm Resilience (IMO: 9304588) and Torm Thames (IMO: 9318333) to new Asia-based owners, following their sale in December.
Chief executive Jacob Meldgaard said the company expected to continue its strategy of disposing of its oldest assets and purchase modern, efficient, secondhand units in their place.
