Ardmore Shipping  this week presented a formula for a products tanker market upturn backed by strong demand growth and a record low orderbook.

Speaking at the company’s capital markets day this week, chief executive Tony Gurnee suggested an extra 120 ships per year were needed to keep place with anticipated demand growth of 4% to 5%.

With only three products tanker yards remaining in South Korea, a couple of smaller facilities in Japan and some in China, coupled with capital constrains, it appears the deck is stacked in the favour of shipowners.