European and African bunker prices have made sharp losses alongside Brent, and Gibraltar’s VLSFO price continues to be competitive with ARA ports.
Changes on the day to 08.00 GMT today:
- VLSFO prices down in Rotterdam and Durban ($18/mt) and Gibraltar ($16/mt)
- LSMGO prices down in Gibraltar ($19/mt) and Rotterdam ($18/mt) and steady in Durban
- HSFO prices down in Rotterdam ($13/mt) and Gibraltar ($11/mt)
Gibraltar continues to price VLSFO at around the same levels as Rotterdam, and at $3-4/mt discounts to Malta and Las Palmas.
Rotterdam and other ARA ports have previously priced VLSFO around $20/mt lower than Gibraltar Strait and Canary Islands ports, but levels have been much closer since in the past month.
VLSFO price offers can vary greatly between suppliers in Gibraltar, with certain suppliers offering considerably lower than others. LSMGO offers are in a tighter cluster.
Fuel availability is good across grades in the ARA and Gibraltar Strait.
There are no significant delays or any bunker congestion in Gibraltar this morning, port agent MH Bland says. High winds are forecast in the Gibraltar Strait from tomorrow and over the weekend. Ceuta is forecast with the strongest winds and could see disruptions to bunkering at anchorage.
Brent
Front-month ICE Brent has tumbled $2.30/bbl lower on the day, to $70.66/bbl at 08.00 GMT.
Brent traded down after the weekly Energy Information Administration (EIA) report showed a surprise build in US crude stocks when it was released yesterday.
“The official US Crude Inventories delivered the knockout punch as they surprised markets by rising by 3.626 million barrels…Markets completely ignored an equally significant tumble in gasoline stocks of -5.3 million barrels,” OANDA analyst Jeffrey Halley said today.
US gasoline stocks fell 2% on the week in a sign of robust road fuel demand. A 2% drop in gasoline production and increased supply in the Gulf Coast region weighed on the country’s total stocks. East Coast stocks were also heavily drawn.
China has halted travel in and out of several cities and cancelled flights to contain the rapid resurgence of Covid-19 cases in the country. According to Chinese authorities, infection rates had been nearly flat in recent months, until the more transmissible Delta variant started ripping through the country last month. 71 new daily cases were reported across 17 provinces on 3 August – the most since January.
This is far short of the thousands of new cases reported in many other large countries, including the 150,000 new cases in the US on 3 August. But unlike the US, China has imposed mobility restrictions on millions of people. The measures will dent fuel demand from the world’s biggest oil importer, but the extent will depend on how long and how extensive they will be.