According to an Argus Media report, marine fuels compliant with the upcoming sulphur emissions regulations are being traded in the Mideast Gulf bunkering hub of Fujairah.
- Shipping firms bought small amounts of 0.5pc marine fuels for trial purposes, bunker traders said.
- Crude tanker Lu San received 2000t of HS380cst bunker fuel this week, and 200t of 0.5pc fuels. A few weeks ago a Chevron tanker bought a similar volume of 0.5pc fuel.
- Recent deals for IMO-compliant marine fuels were based at a $30-40/t discount to Singapore 10ppm spot gasoil assessments.
- Earlier deals were priced at premiums of $160-180/t against Mideast Gulf 180cst high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) assessments.
Vitol Leads in Fujairah
Trading firm Vitol is the only supplier of 0.5pc marine fuels at Fujairah. It operates a 82,000 b/d refinery at the port. German firm Uniper will begin to offer 0.5pc fuels soon. It can produce up to 360,000t a month of 0.1pc sulphur fuel oil from its simple crude-processing facility at Fujairah and it plans to ramp up 0.5pc marine fuels production to meet demand for fuels compliant with the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) rules that come into force on 1 January, 2020.
Small Amounts of Supply Deals
A number of shipping firms have secured term supply deals in Fujairah for small amounts of 0.5pc marine fuels for the fourth quarter of this year, market participants said. But, some are unsure about their strategy or sufficient availability of IMO-compliant bunker fuels.
“I believe the boss has a plan on what we will be doing, but he has so far not told us,” a bunker trader said.
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Source: Argus Media
