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Severe weather at Fujairah disrupts bunkering, delays oil cargo replenishments
4th January 2022 16:17 GMT

 

Rough weather around the Middle Eastern bunker hub of Fujairah was delaying bunkering and cargo operations and prompting some bunker suppliers to extend delivery lead times due to delivery disruptions, traders said Jan. 4.

 

Some sellers were grappling with tightening inventory levels as persistent thunderstorms and strong winds delayed the arrival of low sulfur fuel oil cargo replenishments, according to local bunker suppliers.

In anticipation of the rough weather continuing, some bunker suppliers have extended LSFO delivery lead times to around 11 days ahead, longer than the typical 5-7 days indicated since the second half of December.

“The [LSFO] shipment arrivals are not particularly late, but [more time] is required for processing, resulting in resupply issues,” a Fujairah-based bunker supplier said.

Rough weather conditions emerged over the weekend and are forecast to persist, according to market sources. Some local suppliers were expecting the situation to normalize before the end of the week.

“The weather around Fujairah has been awful, this might continue for a few more days yet,” a second bunker supplier said.

Other bunker suppliers were maintaining typical LSFO bunker delivery lead times amid adequate stockpiles despite the inclement weather conditions, and bunker demand was expected to be slow, sources said.

“There are some bunkering delays as operations were suspended for a while, but things are limping back. However, the [weather] outlook is gloomy while there are loads of delays and disruptions at the moment,” a Fujairah-based trader said.

The premium for Fujairah-delivered marine fuel 0.5%S over the benchmark Singapore Marine Fuel 0.5%S cargo assessment was assessed at $14.80/mt Jan. 3, down 3 cents/mt from Dec. 31, S&P Global Platts data showed.


Platts ,
4th January 2022 16:17 GMT