Americas News
Bunkering in Ecuador "Operating Normal" After Massive Quake
Bunkering operations in Equador have been unaffected by a deadly earthquake that struck the region on April 16, but demand is nevertheless reported to have dropped.
According to Platts, three of the four bunker trading companies in Ecuador's Port of Guayaquil have confirmed that their operations and the La Libertad refinery were not affected by the massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake.
"We want to inform our clients that all ports in Ecuador are operating in normal conditions and we have plentiful supplies," one local player was quoted as saying.
One player said it was suprised that inquiries had stopped last week, as there were "no restrictions to load or to deliver at the port of Guayaquil," while another player said that, due to the lack of demand, it was "very likely" prices this week would drop.
The quake comes at a particularly bad time for suppliers as 2016's Q1 was hit by challenging El Nino weather conditions reported to have intermittently closed La Libertad to navigation and caused loading delays.
"There is a lot of impotence, because in April our expectation was that things will improve, and then we had the earthquake," one of the bunker suppliers was quoted as saying.
