World News
Goldman Sachs Interested in Financing Scrubbers
Goldman Sachs is the latest company said to be interested in providing shipowners financing for scrubbers.
The company told Platts it was "close to signing a few deals".
The technology will allow ships to continue burning the cheaper HSFO bunkers then do today after a global 0.50% sulfur cap on marine fuel comes into force from January 1, 2020.
Several other companies, including Mercuria, Glencore, and BP, have also reportedly made similar efforts to finance scrubbers.
Such deals typically involve a commitment to buy a certain volume of HFO, with the savings compared to the MGO that the owner would otherwise bought then used to pay off the scrubber.
But it is unclear how many ship owners, if any, have entered into such agreements, with market sources telling Ship & Bunker that interest to date has been very low.
But with the overall uptake of scrubbers much lower than official estimates had predicted, it would seem that operational and regulatory uncertainty, not finance, are the key factors holding buyers back.
Key Bunker Prices More
| VLSFO | MGO | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $/mt | +/- | $/mt | +/- | |
| Singapore | 647.50 | 1.00 | 770.00 | 3.50 |
| Rotterdam | 601.50 | 2.50 | 754.00 | 2.00 |
| Houston | 619.00 | 11.50 | 795.50 | 3.00 |
| Fujairah | 651.50 | 1.00 | 895.00 | 2.00 |
| Global 20 Ports Average | 664.00 | 1.50 | 856.50 | 2.00 |
| Global 4 Ports Average | 630.00 | 3.00 | 803.50 | 2.50 |
| Global Average Bunker Price | 718.00 | 0.50 | 914.50 | 0.50 |
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