European and African bunker prices are mostly rangebound amid steady Brent levels, and the upward pressure on Gibraltar’s VLSFO price could have eased after recent supply disruptions.
Changes on the day to 08.00 GMT today:
- VLSFO prices up in Rotterdam ($7/mt) and Durban ($4/mt), and down in Gibraltar ($5/mt)
- LSMGO prices up in Durban ($6/mt) and Gibraltar ($2/mt), and steady in Rotterdam
- HSFO prices up in Gibraltar ($11/mt), and down in Rotterdam ($5/mt)
Gibraltar’s VLSFO price has dipped to narrow its premium over Rotterdam by $12/mt to $20/mt. It has also come down to $2-9/mt discounts to other port in the Gibraltar Strait and in the Canary Islands.
A supplier is running 4-6 hours behind schedule in Gibraltar amid delays at a dock, port agent MH Bland says.
Weather delays have mounted in Las Palmas, with suppliers unable to deliver at the port’s outer anchorage while swells are high. Las Palmas’ inner anchorage can only accommodate one vessel at a time and has gotten congested. Seas are expected to calm today and should allow for outer anchorage bunkering through the week.
Gale-force wind forecast off Skaw for much of the week could push stems into the often more sheltered Gothenburg Roads.
Brent
After a sharp increase at the beginning of the week, front-month ICE Brent has inched down by $0.13/bbl in the past day, to $83.49/bbl at 08.00 GMT.
Brent hovers around weekly highs, buoyed by prospects of stronger US fuel demand. A $1 trillion US infrastructure bill passed through both chambers of Congress last week and could boost future fuel demand. The country has also reopened for vaccinated international tourists after a Covid-19 halt, which could see jet fuel demand make a tentative comeback.
Keeping a lid on further price gains, the White House has said it is looking at “tools” to cool prices for domestic fuel consumers after OPEC+ stuck to its policy of limiting output increases to 400,000 b/d.
“President Biden said he wants to see more supply, with the administration looking at other tools such as tapping the strategic reserve,” ANZ commodity strategist Daniel Hynes said.