Chemicals: Methanex Reports Higher Produced Sales and Adjusted EBITDA in First Quarter 2025. Results highlights include an Adjusted EBITDA of $248 million and a cash balance of $1,031 million ahead of the closing of the acquisition of OCI Global’s methanol business in Q2 2025.

Chemicals: In the first quarter of 2025, BASF held its position in an increasingly challenging environment. EBITDA before special items was at about the level of the prior-year quarter and was in line with average analyst estimates

ESG: Odfjell SE's DNV-classed Bow Olympus is close to completing the first near-carbon-neutral transatlantic journey. The seaborne transportation company’s chemical tanker set out to traverse the Atlantic using a combination of sustainable 100% biofuel & wind-assisted propulsion.

Container Freight: Spot rates across all the major east-west deepsea trades continued their downward descent this week, although it has become increasingly clear that widespread blanked sailings on the transpacific trade managed to stave off a complete crash.

Container freight: The tremendous number of blanked sailings on transpacific eastbound have done what the carriers hoped – kept rates from completely falling out.

Chemicals: Shell posts Q1 chemicals profit on improved margins. Shell had $449 million in adjusted earnings in the first quarter of 2025 for its chemicals and products division on better margins, the UK-based oil and gas major said on Friday.

Chemicals: For Shell's Q1 2025, Chemicals had negative adjusted earnings of $137 million while Products accounted for $586 million of adjusted earnings.

Drewry highlights an 8% increase in total effective shipping capacity deployed by carriers across all intra-Asian trades, an increase of 646 kteu. Given the soft regional demand outlook, the relative stability that characterises most intra-Asian trades could be jeopardised.

Drewry’s Intra-Asia Container Index (IACI), a weighted average of regional spot container freight rates, increased 8% in the fortnight to 15 Jun 2025 to $707 per 40ft container.

Chemical parcel tankers: Whilst no meaningful headway has been made in the global tariff war, the impasse and resultant uncertainty continue to slow trade. SPI Marine reported that freight rates are under downward pressure with fewer volumes being shipped.

Iran, the leading methanol supplier to China, accounts for 60% of the country's total imports. Recent attacks by Israel have significantly decreased methanol production in Iran, causing a surge in methanol prices in China, impacting downstream profit margins (Source ICIS).

Maersk vessels continue to sail through the Strait of Hormuz but the company was ready to re-evaluate this based on available information, the group said in a statement on Sunday, following U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities overnight. Source: Reuters

In a turbulent time of unrest and changing market conditions, Danish oil and chemical tanker shipowner Uni-Tankers A/S is expanding its business and opening an office in Singapore in July, CEO Per Ekmann tells ShippingWatch.

U.S. calls on China to prevent Iran from closing Strait of Hormuz and disrupting global oil flows

Chemical Parcel Tankers: Southeast Asia spot freight continues to be quiet with plenty of prompt vessels for end June / early July. Some Owners are repositioning their vessels to other trade lanes while awaiting COA recovery from a Singapore plant turnaround. (Source SPI Marine)

Jakob Larsen, head of security at Bimco, said some shipowners have already paused transits in the Strait of Hormuz due to the deterioration of the security situation (Source CNBC)

Kpler vessel tracking indicates declines in maritime traffic in the Middle East Gulf since the Israel-Iran conflict began on Friday, June 13.

Over the past few days, Kpler has tracked a sharp surge in GNSS interference across the ME Gulf, Red Sea, and Eastern Mediterranean, coinciding with escalating regional tensions. GNSS spoofing, which disrupts or falsifies a ship’s location, intensified rapidly since last Friday

Oil prices shed 2% as Iran-Israel ceasefire eases concerns over supply, Strait of Hormuz closure

Oil prices have returned to pre-crisis levels trading near $67 following a 13-day rally that briefly lifted Brent crude to $81. The climb was driven by Iranian missile launches and elevated war risk premiums.