GRAPH: Rotterdam LNG Bunker Price Premium to VLSFO Falls 95% in 7 Months

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Tuesday March 28, 2023

LNG bunker prices in Rotterdam have fallen significantly in recent months, according to data from Ship & Bunker, with the weekly LNG price having been at a discount to LSMGO for three of the past 4 weeks.

At the end of August 2022 the LNG-MGOe price - the price of 1 mt of LSMGO vs the price for an amount of LNG that delivers the energy equivalent of one metric tonne of MGO - had reached a high of $3,831/mt, a premium to LSMGO in the port of $2,698.20.

During the same period the LNG-380e price - the price of 1 mt of LSMGO vs the price for an amount of LNG that delivers the energy equivalent of one metric tonne of fuel oil bunkers - had reached a high of $3,660/mt, a premium to VLSFO in the port of $2,945.30.

By last week the LNG-380e premium to VLSFO had fallen some 95% to $134.20/mt, while the LNG-MGOe price had fallen over 100% to a discount of $59.50.

Indeed, in energy equivalent terms, LNG in Rotterdam has been at a discount to LSMGO for three of the past four weeks, the first such period of sustained discount since June 2021.

European LNG prices began to rise in the summer of 2021 due to a combination of supply level issues, political wrangling, and maintenance.

A period of higher gas prices and sustained instability then proceeded from February 2022 due to the Russia / Ukraine conflict.