During the 16th week of the year, the Marine Bunker Exchange (MABUX) global indices displayed mixed dynamics without a clear trend.
The 380 HSFO index increased by US$2.83 to US$552.14/MT. The VLSFO index declined by US$1.88, registering US$694.83/MT, consistently remaining below the US$700 mark. Meanwhile, the MGO index decreased by US$11.06 to US$895.42/MT, falling below the US$900 mark.
"At the time of writing, there are signs of a downward trend in the global bunker market," stated a MABUX spokesperson.
The MABUX Global Scrubber Spread (SS), representing the price disparity between 380 HSFO and VLSFO, decreased by US$4.71, while the weekly average saw a marginal decline of US$0.26. In Rotterdam, the SS Spread increased by US$6.00, remaining above the US$100.00 mark (SS Breakeven), with the weekly average rising by US$4.50. Conversely, in Singapore, the difference in the price of 380 HSFO/VLSFO decreased by US$7.00, leading to a weekly average decrease of US$1.66.
"We expect continued uncertainty in the SS Spread dynamics for the upcoming week," noted a MABUX official.
Last week, European natural gas prices saw a significant surge due to Russia's heightened attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, which were in retaliation to Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries. According to Reuters, these attacks have disrupted about 14% of Russia's total refining capacity. Washington has criticized these energy-focused attacks, expressing concerns over their potential to further escalate global oil prices. Furthermore, European natural gas futures were impacted by reports of significantly reduced natural gas flows into the Freeport LNG export plant in Texas, attributed to issues with a liquefaction train.
On 15 April, the price of LNG as bunker fuel at the port of Sines, Portugal, rose to US$730/MT, marking an increase of US$89 compared to the previous week. Simultaneously, the price gap between LNG and conventional fuel narrowed to US$165 in favour of LNG, down from US$285 the previous week. On the same day, MGO LS was priced at US$895/MT in the port of Sines.
During Week 16, the MDI index (the ratio of market bunker prices (MABUX MBP Index) vs. MABUX digital bunker benchmark (MABUX DBP Index)) revealed the following trends across major world hubs: Rotterdam, Singapore, Fujairah, and Houston.
In the 380 HSFO segment, all selected ports experienced undercharging. Weekly averages increased by 7 points in Rotterdam and Houston while decreasing by 4 points in Singapore and a significant 41 points in Fujairah, where the MDI index dropped below the US$100 mark.
Regarding the VLSFO segment, all ports remained undervalued according to the MDI. Weekly averages increased by 1 point in Rotterdam and 8 points in Houston but decreased by 1 point in Singapore and 5 points in Fujairah.
In the MGO LS segment, Houston transitioned to the overcharge zone, with the average weekly ratio increasing by 8 points. All other ports remained undervalued, with weekly levels decreasing by 21 points in Rotterdam and 25 points in Singapore. In Fujairah, the underprice rate increased by 17 points. Both Rotterdam and Singapore MDI indices fell below the US$100 mark.
"Next week, we anticipate continued market volatility with irregular shifts in bunker
indices," stated Sergey Ivanov, director of MABUX.
