Europe & Africa Market Update 20 Mar
Most bunker benchmarks in European and African ports have declined, while rough weather has disrupted bunkering in the Gibraltar Strait ports.
IMAGE: Aerial view of Gibraltar Harbour with dark storm clouds in the background. Getty Images
Changes on the day to 09.00 GMT today:
- VLSFO prices down in Durban ($116/mt), Rotterdam ($100/mt) and Gibraltar ($61/mt)
- LSMGO prices up in Gibraltar ($6/mt), and down in Rotterdam ($28/mt)
- HSFO prices down in Rotterdam and Gibraltar ($54/mt)
- B30-VLSFO prices down in Gibraltar ($132/mt) and Rotterdam ($75/mt)
Bunker prices have mostly fallen across the three major ports, pressured by the decline in Brent.
Conversely, Gibraltar’s LSMGO price has inched higher. This has widened Gibraltar’s price premium over Rotterdam by $34/mt, to $166/mt.
LSMGO availability is tight in Gibraltar, with one supplier quoting an earliest delivery date almost 11 days out, a trader said. VLSFO and HSFO availability is also tight for prompt delivery dates, the trader added.
Gibraltar has been facing rough weather conditions since Thursday. Strong winds of more than 25 knots and waves of more than 2.5 metres are forecast until Friday evening. Inbound vessel traffic was suspended on Thursday evening as the high swells made it difficult for pilots to board vessels, according to shipping agent A Mateos & Sons.
Service launches to the east anchorage and operations at the outer port limits have also been suspended, the shipping agent added.
Around 19 vessels are currently waiting at the port for bunkers, port agent MH bland said. This could lead to supply backlogs and delays when the weather improves, a source said.
Inbound traffic has also been suspended in the neighbouring Algeciras port due to bad weather conditions, while all operations at Ceuta anchorage have also been cancelled, MH Bland added.
Brent
The front-month ICE Brent contract has moved $6.58/bbl lower on the day, to trade at $108.97/bbl at 09.00 GMT.
Upward pressure:
Brent crude is poised to end the week near $110/bbl as critical energy infrastructure in the Middle East continues to be targeted by Iranian air airstrikes.
In Kuwait, state-operated Kuwait Petroleum Corp has suspended operations at its Mina Al-Ahmadi and Mina Abdullah refineries, after they were attacked by Iranian drones, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Earlier this week, Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil company Aramco’s Samref refinery – which it jointly owned by US-based ExxonMobil – at the Red Sea port of Yanbu was targeted with a missile.
“Yanbu is critical for Saudi Arabia and has increased crude exports since the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz,” ANZ Bank’s senior commodity strategist Daniel Hynes said, adding that the attack could remove 5-6 million b/d of oil supply.
Downward pressure:
Brent’s price rally lost steam after US President Donald Trump said in a social media post that Washington or Tel Aviv would not target Iranian oil and gas infrastructure again.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated the same in a press conference later.
Adding further downward pressure on oil prices, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that Washington could soon lift some sanctions on Iranian crude stranded at sea to ease supply constraints caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
“There are also suggestions that President Trump may ease some sanctions on Iranian oil to help limit price gains,” two analysts from ING Bank said. “Additional downward pressure reflects the US administration ruling out export restrictions on oil,” they added.
By Nachiket Tekawade and Aparupa Mazumder
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