Americas News
Bunker Deliveries Drop 36% in Los Angeles, Long Beach
Bunker deliveries at two major U.S. West Coast ports fell 36 percent in July year-over-year, Platts reports.
Volumes delivered at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach totalled 813,980 barrels in July, 458,433 barrels less than in July of 2012.
For the first seven months of 2013, deliveries at the ports were down 31 percent to 7.31 million barrels.
Local bunker market players attributed the decline in sales to volatile prices in Los Angeles, the shift in refuelling to the Russian Far East, and lower global demand due to trends including slow steaming.
Low-priced fuel in the Russian Far East has been linked to a shift in world bunker markets in recent months.
As of Wednesday, Ship and Bunker data showed IFO 180 fuel cost $656 per metric tonne (mt) in Los Angeles and Long Beach, compared with $551 per mt in Vladivostok, Russia.
