World News
More Detail Emerges From Glencore Market Manipulation Case
The way in which fuel oil markets in the US were manipulated is laid bare in documents relating to the recent US fuel oil price manipulation case.
Glencore's admission of guilt to one count in the case came with a statement that the company operated differently at the time when the manipulation occurred.
How that manipulation happened is detailed in a report from maritime news provider Tradewinds.
Citing court documents, the report said that a Glencore marketer misdirected a Platts market reporter on activity in the market as well as putting in multiple bids to lower the market-on-close price to ensure a favourable result on a deal in the making.
One one day, the bid price was lowered 41 times during the Platts trading window, dropping the price by nearly a fifth (from $245 pmt to $204.5 pmt), according to the report.
The activity covered bunker markets in Los Angeles and Houston.
The Platts market-on-close system accepts bids and offers for fuel oil during a set time period usually towards the end of the trading day. The resulting view of the market is used to inform its price assessments.
An assessment from Platts is seen as a benchmark price for the market against which other deals in the market are set.
Key Bunker Prices More
| VLSFO | MGO | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $/mt | +/- | $/mt | +/- | |
| Singapore | 567.50 | 3.50 | 700.00 | 14.50 |
| Rotterdam | 512.50 | 4.00 | 695.00 | 17.50 |
| Houston | 556.00 | 6.00 | 679.00 | 1.00 |
| Fujairah | 562.50 | 2.50 | 755.00 | 0.00 |
| Global 20 Ports Average | 589.00 | 3.00 | 764.50 | 3.50 |
| Global 4 Ports Average | 552.00 | 3.00 | 699.00 | 2.50 |
| Global Average Bunker Price | 635.50 | 1.00 | 811.50 | 11.00 |
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