EMEA News
Bunker One Saw Iran War Demand 'Tsunami' Starting With 60% Gain in Mauritius
Shipping-market disruption from the conflict in Iran from the end of February saw a bunker demand 'tsunami' spreading from its epicenter in the Middle East to markets across the world, according to global supplier Bunker One.
The shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz and collapse of bunker sales at nearby Fujairah saw profound shifts in demand to other markets, Peter Fynsk, managing director of Bunker One Africa, said on parent company Bunker Holding's Bunkers Only podcast on Tuesday.
"We quickly saw its impact on the trade lanes," Fynsk said.
"Instead of going up to Fujairah and into the Persian Gulf, more vessels started changing the route and steaming around the Cape.
"This had led to highly increased demand in Mauritius, Port Louis, and into the East African environment.
"Internally we have described this as a tsunami of demand, where first demand increased in East Africa and West Africa, and further into Western Europe and the Americas."
Fujairah's total sales excluding lubricants totalled 7.40 million m3 in 2025, and 70-80% of this demand has now shifted away since the start of the war.
Mauritius was one of the biggest beneficiaries of this effect at the start of the war, Fynsk said.
"For Mauritius, we saw an increase of roughly 60% at the start," he said.
"That's obviously now moved into Africa and further on.
"When you're operating on an island on the east side of Africa it's quite difficult to secure fuel and equipment enough to adapt to this kind of demand; that obviously means that the flow is continuing further on into Africa.
"We've seen that the lead time for resupply has come up from 10-14 days to up to one to two months now, so we are right now ensuring that we have enough oil on the shelves to service our clients."
Bunker demand at Port Louis reportedly almost doubled to nearly 1 million mt in 2024.
Bunker One has about 20,000 m3 of marine fuel storage at Port Louis and supplies HSFO, VLSFO and LSMGO using its barge the MT Tulip.
Key Bunker Prices More
| VLSFO | MGO | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $/mt | +/- | $/mt | +/- | |
| Singapore | 963.00 | 26.00 | 1351.50 | 10.50 |
| Rotterdam | 766.00 | 3.00 | 1446.00 | 11.50 |
| Houston | 817.00 | 11.50 | 1421.00 | 1.00 |
| Fujairah | 981.00 | 12.00 | 1768.50 | 17.50 |
| EMEA Average | 917.50 | 14.00 | 1740.00 | 21.00 |
| Global 20 Ports Average | 929.50 | 10.50 | 1565.00 | 13.00 |
| Global 4 Ports Average | 882.00 | 13.50 | 1496.50 | 9.50 |
| Global Average Bunker Price | 978.50 | 20.00 | 1616.50 | 18.50 |
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