World News
Cockett Marine Oil Stake Sale Postponed
South Africa's Grindrod has postponed the sale of its half of bunker trader Cockett Marine Oil.
In a business update Friday the company said its planned disposal of assets was proceeding "at a slower pace than anticipated, with potential buyers choosing to focus on their own portfolios."
"At the June reporting period close we will be required to re-consider the valuations on some of the investments within the private equity book and the investments held for sale, given the impact of Covid-19 and the weak macro-economy," the company said.
Maritime news website ShippingWatch reported on Friday that Grindrod's sale of its Cockett stake in particular was on hold because of the pandemic's effect.
A spokesman for Grindrod was not available for comment.
Consolidation Postponed
Grindrod is the co-owner of Cockett with commodity trading firm Vitol, with the companies each holding half the shares.
Grindrod had said its stake in Cockett would be put up for sale in August 2019.
Vitol originally bought its Cockett stake from Grindrod in 2012, and may be one of the potential buyers for the remaining 50%. Rival commodity trading firm Trafigura has recently launched its own marine fuel supplier, TFG Marine, and increased profits from bunkering since IMO 2020 made more expensive very low sulfur fuel oil the dominant bunker fuel have raised interest in the industry from larger oil companies that have traditionally shunned bunker supply.
In the report on the world's ten most important bunker suppliers for 2020 produced by Ship & Bunker and SeaCred last year, Cockett was listed in seventh place with annual volumes of 5.7 million mt.
About Jack Jordan
Jack Jordan is the Managing Editor of Ship & Bunker, the world’s most read marine fuel-focused publication.
He is an experienced financial editor and reporter with a first-class degree in Arabic and Russian, a postgraduate diploma in newspaper journalism and several years' history of covering the oil and shipping industries and capital markets.
Jack is based in London, UK.
About Ship & Bunker
Ship & Bunker is the world's most read publication focused on the marine fuel markets. Completely independent, it is the leading industry authority providing comprehensive daily news, exclusive in-depth features and analysis, along with daily & historical bunker price indications.
To contact the editor responsible for this story email us at editor@shipandbunker.com
Key Bunker Prices More
| VLSFO | MGO | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $/mt | +/- | $/mt | +/- | |
| Singapore | 565.50 | 4.50 | 678.50 | 4.50 |
| Rotterdam | 512.00 | 3.50 | 676.00 | 9.00 |
| Houston | 552.00 | 3.00 | 682.00 | 4.00 |
| Fujairah | 555.50 | 7.50 | 753.00 | 1.50 |
| Global 20 Ports Average | 583.50 | 4.00 | 762.50 | 2.50 |
| Global 4 Ports Average | 546.50 | 4.50 | 697.50 | 2.50 |
| Global Average Bunker Price | 632.50 | 2.00 | 811.00 | 1.50 |
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