Τhe Marine Bunker Exchange (MABUX) global bunker indices continued trending upwards. The 380 HSFO index rose to US$574.24/MT, the VLSFO index increased by US$11.06 and the MGO index added US$11.89.
“At the time of writing, bunker indices continued uptrend evolution,” commented a MABUX official.
Global Scrubber Spread (SS) – the price difference between 380 HSFO and VLSFO – widened slightly over the week, plus US$1.97. The weekly average, on the contrary, decreased by US$0.97.
In Rotterdam, SS Spread resumed its decline, dropping by US$4, from US$54 last week to US$50, even falling to US$40 on 1 September.
The average weekly SS Spread in Rotterdam also decreased by US$6.67. In Singapore, the price difference between 380 HSFO and VLSFO showed a slight increase of US$3.
The weekly average also rose by US$6.50. “We expect SS Spread do not show a sustainable trend in the upcoming week,” said a MABUX representative.
European gas prices experienced a surge earlier this month due to potential industrial action threats by workers at three LNG facilities in Australia. While strikes were averted at one facility, the risk persisted at the other two, effectively maintaining a floor for gas prices.
In the meantime, Europe’s gas storage levels are higher than typical for this time of year, primarily attributable to the retention of volumes from the previous year, which had been bought at record-high prices. It made no sense to resell them at a huge loss, while the continent’s storage is now 92.5% full.
This surplus could serve as a comfortable buffer in the event of an outage, particularly if the outage proves to be of short duration. Despite the momentary growth of gas indexes, the price of LNG as bunker fuel at the port of Sines (Portugal) showed another decrease, reaching US$758/MT on 4 September.
At the same time, the difference in price between LNG and conventional fuel as of September 4 also continued to expand, US$220 in favor of LNG, in the port of Sines, MGO LS was quoted that day at US$978/MT.
During Week 36, the MDI index (the ratio of market bunker prices (MABUX MBP Index) and the digital bunker benchmark MABUX (MABUX DBP Index)) showed that the trend of underestimating bunker fuel still prevails in the global bunker market.
In the 380 HSFO segment, Singapore and Fujairah remained in the underestimation zone, with the average weekly underpricing increasing by 24 and 16 points, respectively. In the other two ports: Rotterdam and Houston, the MDI registered an overcharging. The average weekly overpricing ratio fell by 5 points in Rotterdam and by 17 points in Houston.
For the VLSFO segment, according to the MDI index, Singapore has moved into the underprice zone. Thus, all four selected ports were underestimated. The average undercharge index rose by 15 points in Rotterdam, 21 points in Singapore, 25 points in Fujairah and 12 points in Houston.
In the MGO LS segment, all selected ports remained undervalued, while the average undervaluation declining by 18 points in Rotterdam, 14 points in Singapore, 5 points in Fujairah and 32 points in Houston.
“We expect the global bunker market to maintain the potential for further moderate growth in the coming week,” commented Sergey Ivanov, director of MABUX.
