Falling Bunker Prices Save Shippers $117M Per Day

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Wednesday November 26, 2014

BIMCO says that the shipping industry is saving $117 million per day due to recent falls in bunker prices.

Shippers are only spending 0.1 percent less on bunkers now than they were 24 weeks ago but this equates to significant savings, with the total cost of bunkers estimated at $149.5 billion per day as of June 1, 2014.

Bunker price data from Ship & Bunker shows there has been a 21.0 percent decline in Singapore IFO380 prices between June 2 and today and a 27.6% drop for the same period at Rotterdam, bringing the current cost per metric tonne (pmt) down to a range between $421.5 pmt and $475 pmt.

According to the report, bunker savings are feeding into reduced fuel surcharges being charged by shippers.

Trans-Pacific surcharges fell around 11 percent to $512 per forty-foot equivalent unit (FEU) between August and November, which Trans-Atlantic charges dropped four percent, by $20 per FEU.

Maersk Line's Søren Skou recently said the company would pass on bunker savings to customers.

While some commentators have said that shippers could afford to increase sailing speeds if bunker prices continue to fall, BIMCO expects slow steaming to remain as a feature of the market.

"Slow steaming is expected to remain an integrated part of shipping going forward in spite of the falling prices, as bunker cost are still significant and so is overcapacity in the freight market," said BIMCO's Chief Shipping Analyst, Peter Sand.

BIMCO recently called on governments to ensure "robust" enforcement of 2015 Emissions Control Area (ECA) rules in order that shippers operate on a level playing field.

Ship & Bunker News Team
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