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Global bunker market report
23rd January 2009 16:49 GMT
EARLY SIGNS OF IMPROVEMENT APPEAR AFTER A SHORT MARKET RE BOUNCE, WITH PARTICIPANTS STILL UNCERTAIN AS TO THE IMPACT OF OPEC’S SUPPLY CUT DOWN MEASURES WHICH WILL MOST PROBABLY WILL START KICKING IN BY MID FEBRUARY’S SUPPLIES. ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE SCALE, GLOBAL ECONOMY CRISIS IS STILL THE MAJOR FACTOR DRIVING COMMODITY DEMAND AND THUS SHIFTING CRUDE MARKET PRICES ACCORDINGLY. IN SINGAPORE, AS WELL AS MOST FAR EAST COUNTRIES INCLUDING CHINA, SOUTH KOREA, TAIWAN, MALAYSIA AND HONG KONG, MARKET IS EXPECTED QUIET FOR AT LEAST MID NEXT WEEK DUE TO THE CHINESE NEW YEAR FESTIVITIES DURING WHICH MANY OFFICES WILL REMAIN CLOSED AND IN SOME CASES DELIVERIES WILL BE SUSPENDED ON THE HOLIDAY PEAK DAYS. IN GIBRALTAR STRAITS AND NEIGHBORING HUBS, ONE KEY PLAYER REPORTED FULLY BOOKED SCHEDULE UNTIL AT LEAST MID NEXT WEEK. IN LAS PALMAS, ONE PARTICIPANT REPORTED TIGHT BARGING SCHEDULE FOR DELIVERIES DATED BEFORE AT LEAST THE 27TH. IN ROTTERDAM ONE SUPPLIER ADVISED TIGHT SCHEDULE FOR DELIVERIES BEFORE 29TH-30TH. IN AMSTERDAM, MOST PLAYERS CANNOT ACCOMODATE VESSELS ARRIVING FOR SUPPLY BEFORE THE 29TH, WHILE ONE REPORTED SHORTAGE OF HEAVY FUEL STOCKS.
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IFO-380
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+/-
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IFO-180
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+/-
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GASOIL
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+/-
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|
Availability
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|
SINGAPORE*
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258
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-5
|
268
|
-2
|
415
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-2
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d
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TIGHT
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|
FUJAIRAH*
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262
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+7
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282
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+7
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625
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-5
|
d
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FAIR
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|
DURBAN*
|
-----
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-----
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S/E
|
0
|
S/E
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0
|
w
|
TIGHT
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Faisal brings in Pakistan's biggest bunker barge
23rd January 2009 02:28 GMT
Faisal Marine now operating country's biggest bunker tanker
Pakistan's biggest bunker supplier Faisal Marine Oil Services has brought into Karachi the country's largest bunker tanker to date, a company official said.
Fillgo VI has a capacity of 1,500 metric tonnes (mt) and a pumping capacity of 300 mt per hour, according to Faisal Paracha, bunker trader for Faisal.
The double-hull bunker tanker made its first delivery at Karachi anchorage on Thursday, supplying marine gasoil (MGO) to a survey vessel, Paracha told Bunkerworld.
Fillgo VI was built in Dubai, UAE. It brings Faisal Marine Oil Services' fleet to six
The company is already planning for its seventh bunker tanker of about 3,000 mt in capacity, he added.
''A new barge may be coming soon,'' Paracha said. ''This will be our next project but it's still quite early to say (when it will be delivered).''
Industrial demand for low-sulphur fuel oil 'weakening'
22nd January 2009 15:43 GMT
Cold weather triggered demand for power stations
A slowdown in industrial consumption has weakened demand for low-sulfur fuel oil (LSFO) in Northwest Europe, according to a report on Thursday.
Traders in the Rotterdam barge market, reported on the energy pricing service Platts, said demand from inland industrial users was falling.
"Chemical plants are running at reduced rates so fuel demand is hit," said one source, adding that one plant had cut its LSFO purchases by 50%.
There were also reports of steel manufacturers reducing their orders for fuel oil as they cut production for Europe’s struggling car industry.
Some traders said the the extent of the long-term fall in LSFO demand had been disguised by the cold winter, which had triggered a surge in consumption by power plants.
Bunkerworld data showed the price premium for LSFO against high sulphur bunker product had remained relatively narrow in January.
At mid-afternoon local time on Thursday, LSFO 380 centistoke product was priced at $249.50 per metric tonne (mt), just $14 pmt above the average for high sulphur 380 cst bunker material.
In November, the average price of LSFO 380 cst product in the Rotterdam bunker market had been $293.50 pmt, over $72 more than than the average for high sulphur bunker material.
But analysts reported on Bunkerworld and Sustainable Shipping this week, taking a long view of product demand, were still warning that environmental legislation would eventually lead to a shortage of low-sulphur product.
Container operator predicts 50% cut in profits
22nd January 2009 16:51 GMT
CSCL: Volumes down
China Shipping Container Lines (CSCL) expects its results for 2008 to show a drop in net profit of more than 50%.
“In 2008, the volume of container-loaded cargoes exported from China decreased significantly, and the traditional peak season for cargo volume didn't appear,” the company said in a statement this week.
It also blamed bunker prices, which kept soaring well into the third quarter, resulting in a sharp increase in the company's operation costs.
It didn't specify its 2008 earnings results in detail; they are to be released late in March.
The company reported a net profit of $485 million (CNY 3.32 billion) in 2007.
CSCL, China's second largest container ship operator, posted a third quarter net loss of $39.7 million (271 million yuan) in November, due to lower demand and a year-on-year increase in bunker costs.
It was the first quarterly loss posted by the company since it was listed in 2004.
Three new bunker tankers for Singapore market
22nd January 2009 01:45 GMT
Singapore awaits three new double-hulls this year
Singapore's largest barge operator Hong Lam Marine is scheduled to bring three double-hull bunker tankers into the port this year, two of which will be the world's biggest bunker tankers.
A 9,000-deadweight tonne (dwt) bunker tanker is due to arrive in Singapore waters in April for an independent supplier to operate.
Two 22,000 dwt bunker tankers will come separately in May and October for use by Toyota Tsusho Petroleum, a fuel oil trader and bunker supplier.
The three tankers are being built at a Chinese shipyard.
The extra capacity will help meet demand in a market that has been seeing bunker sales volumes grow year by year. Singapore's bunker sales grew by 10.8% last year to reach a record high sales of 34.9 million metric tonnes (mt).
Singapore currently has two of the world's biggest bunker tankers at 11,200 dwt in service. The vessels were built by local bunker supplier Consort Bunkers at a Japanese shipyard.
The building of double-hulls is in response to the International Maritime Organization (IMO)'s phase out of single-hulls by 2015.
Supplier offering low-sulphur product in another port
21st January 2009 11:52 GMT
Port of Las Palmas
Cepsa Marine Fuels, S.A. (CMF) is now supplying low sulphur fuel oil Las Palmasin the Canary Islands.
A spokesperson for the company told Bunkerworld that the supply operation started last month and had been going "smoothly".
It means Cepsa is now supplying low-sulphur product in the ports of Algeciras, Gibraltar, Tenerife, Barcelonaand Las Palmas.
She also confirmed that plans were on track to start supply low sulphur product in the port of Huelva, in southern Spain, later this year.
Cepsa said early this month it was placing "special emphasis" on the supply of low-sulphur product.
The Cepsa spokesperson said the volume of low sulphur bunker product it was supplying across its operations had risen 50% year-on year.
ENOC returning to Fujairah bunker market
20th January 2009 16:09 GMT
ENOC returning to UAE tanker hub
The Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC) is poised to re-enter the Fujairahbunker market, nine months after an abrupt exit.
A report on the energy news service Platts said ENOC had offered 3,700 metric tonnes (mt) of 380 centistoke (cst) material and 150 mt of marine gas oil (MGO) for delivery from January 23 onwards.
An identified source said they were resuming bunkering in Fujairah "under a new structure."
Sources contacted by Bunkerworld confirmed that ENOC had been preparing to return. They said, however, that they did not expect deliveries to begin until the first week of February.
"ENOC resuming bunkering in Fujairah under a new structure"
ENOC had been supplying in Fujairah through ENOC Bunkering (Fujairah) LLC.
In March last year it made a surprise withdrawal from the market, telling customers it was suspending operations "to assess" its business.
The initial statement had said the suspension would be for three months.
The supplier has been one of the leading players in the Fujairah market with a market share in 2007 estimated as being between 30% and 40%.
When it withdrew it had been operating four chartered bunker barges.
ENOC Bunkering (Fujairah) was a subsidiary of state-owned ENOC.
It entered the market in 2002 and immediately established itself as an aggressive player focusing on market share and large volumes.
ENOC has maintained a presence in Fujairah as a joint-venture partner in the Vopak Horizon Fujairah storage terminal.
The Fujairah market sold 16.5 million metric tonnes (mt) in 2007, according to figures from the Port of Fujairah.
A source, speaking to Bunkerworld on Tuesday, said there was “plenty of room” for ENOC to establish in new position in the hub.
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