Fuel price spread at world’s top bunkering hubs now firmly in triple-digit territory
The price spread between low (VLSFO) and high (HSFO) sulphur fuel oil continues to widen across the world.
Lorentzen & Stemoco noted in an update to clients today that the spread – often called the Hi5 – is now above $100 per ton in all the major bunkering hubs for the first time since before coronavirus was labelled a pandemic 11 months ago.
“In Fujairah, where the spread is the highest at $128 per ton, that spread can go into savings for a scrubber-fitted VLCC running on HSFO so that some $7,500 a day less is spent on bunkers on a laden voyage, assuming consumption of 60 tons a day,” the broker observed.
Braemar ACM’s tanker analysts pointed out in a market update that with the recent rise in bunker prices, the price differentials are beginning to make eco and scrubber vessels look more attractive for term business.
Prior to the onset of the global sulphur cap at the start of 2020, a price gap of $150 was deemed as the absolute outlier in terms of owners making a swift return on investment for their scrubber outlays.
