VLCC freight rates at mid-Sept low as virus hits Chinese oil demand

LONDON (Reuters) - Freight rates for very large crude carriers (VLCC) on the key Mideast Gulf and U.S. Gulf to Asia routes have fallen to their lowest since mid-September as the coronavirus outbreak hit Chinese demand, according to ship brokers."The market has gone back to what it was before the COSCO sanctions came in," a ship broker said referring to U.S. sanctions on subsidiaries on the state-owned Chinese shipping firm.