Ongoing disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz continue to impact global shipping markets significantly. The Middle East Gulf (MEG) remains the critical export hub for methanol and glycols, accounting for 37% and 34% of total seaborne exports respectively as of 2025.
While export volumes from regions outside the MEG have also declined, vessel utilisation rates have shown a positive trend. Data covering the period from March 2025 to February 2026 reveals that while export volumes in non-MEG regions contracted by 5%, utilisation levels concurrently expanded by 6%.
This shift is primarily driven by the longer voyages. Although the absolute trade volumes for methanol and glycols have seen minimal fluctuations, the increased duration of these voyages positively influenced the demand for the chemical tanker fleet. While this rise in utilisation is not sufficient to fully offset the fleet demand gap created by the reduced MEG exports, it is successfully alleviating some of the immediate demand-side pressure on the chemical tanker market.