George Collard of the global energy and commodity price reporting agency Argus Media on Tuesday (21 April) published an report on the implications of the recent oil market crash on scrubber demand based on Wärtsilä’s recent financial report:
Demand for the vessel exhaust cleaning equipment known as scrubbers has fallen because of a narrowing spread between high- and low-sulphur fuel, Finland-based marine technology firm Wärtsilä said today.
Installing scrubbers allow vessels to burn high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) beyond the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) 0.5% sulphur cap that began on 1 January.
But the price of HSFO has found support recently from limited storage and delivery barge tank allocation, and by demand for use as feedstock in the US. Several European suppliers stopped offering HSFO ahead of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) 0.5% sulphur cap that began on 1 January, and others are only using a small part of storage and barge tank space for HSFO.
The spread between HSFO and the IMO-compatible low-sulphur (LSFO) hit an all-time low of $47/t last week, and late yesterday it was $48.50/t. The spread was above $300/t at the start of the year. This narrowing means the payback time from installing a scrubber has significantly lengthened, making shipowners reluctant to invest.
Wärtsilä’s marine orders fell by 15% year on year to €715mn ($775mn) in the first quarter. Its overall sales rose by 2% to €1.17bn in the quarter, but profit halved to €29mn. Its chief executive Jaakko Eskola said the fall was because of weaker fixed-cost absorption, the service sales mix and cost overruns. Eskola said the Covid-19 pandemic is hitting demand, and this will have a “material” effect on the firm’s finances in 2020. As a result, Wärtsilä will cut costs by around €100mn, and it withdrew guidance for the year at the end of March.
Source: Argus Media
Published: 22 April, 2020
The total volume of bunkers sold at Singapore grew 4.2% to 50.6 million mt in 2017, according to MPA data.
Vietnam specialist bunker trading firm ‘bridges gap’ between international shipowners and local suppliers by providing range of intermediary services, says Director.
The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore welcomes the 13th edition of SMW, which runs from 21 to 29 April.
“Economic growth and increased global trade cannot happen at the expense of the environment or our future generations’ needs,” said the company.
CMES has agreed to acquire 70% of equity ownership in Singapore-based bunker trading company China Merchants Energy Trading for USD 16 million in cash.
Staff from both Total’s China arm and Zhejiang Energy confirmed development with Reuters on Friday.
The top three positive movers in the 2020 bunker supplier list are Hong Lam Fuels Pte Ltd (+13); Chevron Singapore Pte Ltd (+12); and SK Energy International (+8), according to MPA list.
‘We will operate in the Singapore bunkering market from the Tokyo, with support from local staff at Sumitomo Corporation Singapore,’ source tells Manifold Times.
Changes include abolishing advance declaration of bunkers as dangerous cargo, reducing pilotage fees on vessels receiving bunkers, and a ‘whitelist’ system for bunker tankers.
Claim relates to deliveries of MGO to the vessels Pacific Diligence, Pacific Valkyrie, Pacific Defiance, Crest Alpha 1, and Pacific Warlock between March 2020 to April 2020.
3,490 mt of LSFO from Itochu Enex was lifted at Universal Terminal; the same bunker stem was bought by Global Marine Logistics and delivered by bunker tanker Juma to receiving vessel Kirana Nawa.
Representatives of Veritas Petroleum Services, Maersk, INTERTANKO, ElbOil Singapore, and SDE International provide insight from their respective fields of expertise on what lies ahead.
