During the 29th week of the year, the Marine Bunker Exchange (MABUX) global bunker indices experienced a moderate downward trend.
The 380 HSFO index decreased by US$2.58, dropping to US$554.73/MT, the VLSFO index saw a decline of US$7.33 to US$652.74/MT and the MGO index fell by US$10.78 to US$840.92/MT.
"At the time of writing, global bunker indices continued to decline slightly," stated a MABUX official.
The MABUX Global Scrubber Spread (SS) – the price difference between 380 HSFO and VLSFO – showed a moderate decline of US$4.75 to US$98.01, once again falling below the US$100 SS Breakeven mark. The weekly average also dropped by US$3.15.
In Rotterdam, the SS Spread increased by US$3 rising to US$66, although the weekly average at the port decreased by US$2.50.
The 380 HSFO/VLSFO price differential remained steady at US$99.00, staying below the US$100 mark in Singapore. The port's weekly average saw a decrease of US$8.
Currently, both the Global SS Spread and the index values in the ports are consistently below the critical US$100 threshold.
"We expect the SS Spread to remain relatively unchanged next week," stated a MABUX official.
In Europe, TTF prices remain stable despite weak demand and high storage levels. Factors such as lower LNG inflows, unplanned outages, and geopolitical uncertainties have contributed to higher gas prices in the EU.
Additionally, the decline in carbon prices has made gas-fired power generation less competitive compared to the most efficient coal-fired power plants. During Week 29, the European gas benchmark TTF experienced moderate growth, increasing by 1.462 EUR/MWh (rising from 31.335 EUR/MWh last week to 32.797 EUR/MWh).
The price of LNG as bunker fuel in the port of Sines (Portugal) continued its downward trend, dropping to US$712/MT on 16 July, a decrease of US$31 compared to the previous week.
Meanwhile, the price difference between LNG and conventional fuel on 16 July widened to US$120 in favour of LNG, up from US$113 the week before. On that day, MGO LS was quoted at US$832/MT in the port of Sines.
In Week 29, the MDI index (the correlation ratio of market bunker prices (MABUX MBP Index) versus the MABUX digital bunker benchmark (MABUX DBP Index)) showed the following trends in the world's four largest hubs: Rotterdam, Singapore, Fujairah, and Houston:
In the 380 HSFO segment, all four ports were in the undercharge zone, with weekly averages down by 4 points in Rotterdam, 5 points in Singapore, 3 points in Fujairah, and 4 points in Houston.
In the VLSFO segment, all four ports were undervalued, with average weekly levels declining by 3 points in both Rotterdam and Fujairah, while the MDI index in Singapore and Houston remained unchanged.
In the MGO LS segment, Houston returned to the overcharge zone, making it the only overvalued port, with the weekly overprice average increasing by 21 points. The other three ports remained undervalued, with weekly averages rising by 7 points in Rotterdam but decreasing by 7 points in Singapore and 16 points in Fujairah. MDI indices in Rotterdam and Singapore consistently stayed above the US$100 mark.
"We foresee next week the downward trend in the global bunker market will exhaust its
potential and bunker indices will return to moderate growth," commented Sergey Ivanov, director of MABUX.
