2025 was another year in which the chemical tanker market was shaped less by demand recovery and more by disruption.
Freight resilience was largely underpinned by geopolitical instability, rerouted trade flows and extended voyage distances, which inflated tonne-miles and supported utilisation despite muted growth in global trade and chemical production. The market remained active, but fundamentally fragile — held together by inefficiency rather than a return to strong underlying fundamentals.
As 2026 approaches, the market remains structurally fragile, with freight performance driven increasingly by disruption rather than demand.
Read the full Chemical Tanker Outlook 2026 report by SSY’s Plamen Aleksandrov, Head of Research, Chemicals, for in-depth analysis of the risks, dynamics and strategic implications shaping the year ahead.
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