Restraint of trade

摘要

After what had been a fairly optimistic market for much of 2011, December caught a chill, with rates slipping as traders' eyes were on the upcoming holidays. Owners of very large gas carriers (VLGCs) scrambled to tie up those cargoes available as day rates fell from $40,000 to close to $30,000 a day by mid-December. Energy companies chartering VLGCs on the key Middle East-Asia route were in the enviable position of paying around $8,000 less per day than earlier in the month.