Container shipping fuel prices remain elevated as supply fears ease

Bunker fuel prices for ships remain at historically elevated levels, keeping pressure on vessel operating costs even as the marine-fuel supply squeeze that followed disruption around the Strait of Hormuz has eased at major fueling hubs. In Singapore, the world’s largest bunkering center, very-low-sulphur fuel oil, or VLSFO, was assessed at about $908 per metric ton this week, while marine gasoil (MGO) stood at $1,448 per ton and high-sulphur fuel oil at roughly $770 per ton, according to analyst Ship & Bunker. At Rotterdam, Europe’s busiest port, VLSFO was about $731 per ton, compared with $804 per ton in Houston and $1,005 per ton in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates. The premium at Fujairah, the Middle East’s principal bunker hub, shows the continuing impact of constrained traffic and supply-chain disruption in and around the Strait of Hormuz. Bunkering activity at Fujairah has recovered to about 40% of its prewar level, according to industry comments reported from the Asia Pacific Petroleum Conference, but remains well below normal.