Americas bunker prices have made fresh gains on the back of a 3% Brent jump.
Changes on the day to 09.30 CST (14.30 GMT) today:
- VLSFO prices up in Los Angeles ($27/mt), Zona Comun ($24/mt), New York ($21/mt), Balboa ($20/mt) and Houston ($17/mt)
- LSMGO prices up in Zona Comun ($31/mt), Los Angeles ($29/mt), Balboa ($25/mt), New York ($23/mt) and Houston ($16/mt)
- HSFO380 prices up in Houston and New York ($21/mt), Los Angeles ($18/mt) and Balboa ($16/mt)
Houston’s low sulphur prices have made more moderate gains than in other key US ports, and its discounts to some US Gulf Coast ports have widened. VLSFO is now priced $20-25/mt lower in Houston than in New Orleans, Corpus Christi and Freeport, and LSMGO is $30-50/mt lower.
Baytown and Beaumont have LSMGO around Houston’s levels.
Stems of VLSFO and LSMGO, as well as HSFO380, are in good availability for prompt dates across the US Gulf Coast.
Zona Comun’s low sulphur prices have made some of the steepest gains across the Americas in the past day. Its VLSFO price has flipped to a $9/mt premium over Rio Grande. Paranagua’s price has kept up with Zona Comun’s gain and maintained near parity.
Brent
Front-month ICE Brent has come jumped $2.11/bbl higher on the day, to $71.22/bbl at 09.30 CST (14.30 GMT).
The futures contract has risen gradually throughout the day and recovered some of the steep losses from earlier this week.
Brent fell 7% on Monday, when OPEC+ cut a deal that will see more crude in the market from August. The sell-off drove Brent to two-month lows, and the price fell further yesterday amid renewed oil demand concerns from the spread of the Delta Covid-19 variant. New daily cases have reached multi-month highs in several Asian and European countries, as well as certain US states with low vaccination rates.
Today’s price recovery has also defied a surprise build in US crude stocks, which grew by 2.1 million bbls last week and ended eight consecutive weeks of draws.
The crude stocks measured 439.69 million bbls on 16 July, according to the latest report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Distillate inventories fell by 1.35 million bbls, while gasoline inventories held broadly steady. Refinery production of the two fuel grades dipped on the week in a sign of slightly weaker demand.
An unexpected build can often weigh on crude prices, especially when coupled with indications of weaker road fuels demand. But Brent continued its upward journey by rising $0.63/bbl in the half hour after the EIA report came out at 14.30 GMT today.