After a year of disruption and uncertainty, this edition of Insight looks at emerging themes in energy, from sustainable aviation fuels to China’s net zero…
Dec 15, 2020
After a year of disruption and uncertainty, this edition of Insight looks at emerging themes in energy, from sustainable aviation fuels to China’s net zero aspirations and the impact of the US election.
Nov 23, 2020
‘With 90% of our global trade waterborne, it’s critical to keep the supply chains moving efficiently. At S&P Global Platts we use our expertise and knowledge of the commodity and energy markets to offer our clients a transparent solution to container shipping.
Shipping editors Peter Norfolk, Baoying Ng and George Griffiths filmed this video for the IMarEST program ‘Ocean Aware’, highlighting the need to cope with market unpredictability and to keep up with changes in environmental legislation. This has inspired our innovation in the client offering, which goes beyond container shipping and across all waterborne freight markets.’
credit: IMarEST and ITN Productions #OceanAware
Asia piracy incidents hit 5-year high in 2020, shipping insurance rates firm
Jan 18, 2021
Overall, such incidents in Asia, excluding the attempted ones, were up 32% from 2019 to a five-year high in 2020, ReCAAP said. ReCAAP is the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia.
ReCAAP’s annual data release comes close on the heels of attack on tankers in the Middle East.
At present, maritime security in Asia is under sharp focus, particularly in the aftermath of the attack on tankers near the Persian Gulf late last year, which has kept shipping insurance rates firm due to an additional war risk premia.
The Strait of Hormuz, which leads to the Persian Gulf, is a critical chokepoint through which 30% of the world’s seaborne oil passes through.
“The war risk premia is holding firm for all ships moving in the region because of the prevailing threat,” said a maritime insurance executive.
Last month, an LR1 tanker owned by Hafnia suffered an explosion after being hit by an external object early Dec. 14 while discharging a gasoline cargo at Saudi Arabia’s western port of Jeddah, sources with the direct knowledge of the matter told S&P Global Platts.
The insurance premium varies from ship to ship depending on its age and depreciation, but another maritime insurance executive said due to the prevailing situation, any decline in rates is unlikely.
Such premia is typically paid as an actual expense, which the owners bill to the charterer after the voyage, or transit is completed. The premia vary based on the location of the ship, its transit route, age and flag. Unlike freight, insurance premia is typically not in public domain.
In mid-December 2020, the Asia-Pacific Long Range 1, or LR1, tanker rates had hit their highest in over six months, with benchmark Persian Gulf-Japan route at 110 Worldscale points, due to strong demand.
A direct impact of such incidents is that Persian Gulf is not going to be removed from the high-risk zone that it is in for almost two years now, said a clean tankers broker in Singapore.
The Joint War Committee of insurance body Lloyd’s Market Association had added the Persian Gulf and adjacent waters including parts of Gulf of Oman to the list of areas under risk of “Hull War, Piracy, Terrorism and related perils” in May 2019.
According to ReCAAP, the trend of increase in piracy and sea robbery was seen across Asia including areas such as Bangladesh, India, the Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore Straits and South China Sea, ReCAAP said.
Most of the incidents in the Singapore Straits involved bigger ships such as bulk carriers and tankers and took place in the eastbound lane of the Traffic Separation Scheme.
“In view of the increase of incidents, law enforcement agencies in Asia should enhance surveillance, increase patrols and respond promptly to arrest and prosecute the perpetrators, Masafumi Kuroki, Executive Director of ReCAAP said in a virtual conference.
Singapore is located along one of the world’s busiest waterways, with close to 1,000 ships anchored there at any given time. A ship calls at Singapore port every two to three minutes, bringing the total to around 130,000 ships a year and making it critical for maritime passage in the region to be piracy-free.
From industrial raw materials such as coal to essential food items like rice, commodities worth billions of dollars move on commercial ships near the Sulu Sea and the Celebes Sea, industry estimates showed.
The abduction of crew in the Sulu-Celebes Seas and waters off Eastern Sabah remains a concern, Kuroki said. In the last five years, of the 86 abducted crew in the Sulu-Celebes Seas, 71 were released while 11 either died or were killed, according to the ReCAAP estimates.
Established in 2006, ReCAAP is the first regional government-to-government agreement to promote and enhance cooperation against piracy and armed robbery against ships in Asia. It has 20 member countries, including all members of ASEAN except Malaysia and Indonesia, with France and Germany expected to join in future.
In the latest Platts Future Energy podcast, Janjoost Jullens, Energy Lead at the at the Blocklab innovation lab in the Netherlands, and James Rilett, Senior…
Jan 04, 2021
In the latest Platts Future Energy podcast, Janjoost Jullens, Energy Lead at the at the Blocklab innovation lab in the Netherlands, and James Rilett, Senior Director of Innovation at S&P Global Platts, tell Henry Edwardes-Evans about Platts AI trading platform Distro.
Rotterdam’s blockchain-based microgrid has driven user costs down 11% and producer returns up 14% – now its developers are looking to extend its reach within the port and roll the system out elsewhere.
Also available on: Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Speaking recently at Platts Mediterranean Bunker Fuel Virtual Conference, hear from Sam Eckett, Managing Editor, Freight Markets, Andrew Scorer, Freight Analytics Lead, Chris To, Associate…
Dec 01, 2020
Speaking recently at Platts Mediterranean Bunker Fuel Virtual Conference, hear from Sam Eckett, Managing Editor, Freight Markets, Andrew Scorer, Freight Analytics Lead, Chris To, Associate Editor, Freight Markets, & William Healy, Commodity Associate, Freight Markets on – Low-sulfur marine fuels’ impact on global freight levels
Nov 18, 2020
Feb 02, 2021
How long will the 2020 bust and boom cycles extend into 2021 for the tanker and container freight markets? Yet bunker prices have shown some pandemic resilience, while Panama consolidates as a Latin American bunkering hub.
Join S&P Global Platts specialists on February 2, 2021 for our Latin America Shipping and Bunker Webinar to discuss pandemic and post-pandemic shifts in the 2020-2021 shipping markets. Get updates on current market dynamics, the latest industry pricing and news, and submit questions to our shipping and bunker teams as they cover the topics below:
– Panama consolidates as a bunker hub in Latin America
– Brazil: A success story of export-oriented production
– Spreads between VLSFO, MGO and high-sulfur IFO 380 shrink
– Evolution of counter-seasonal pandemic freight trends
– Post-pandemic tonnage supply and ton-mile demand
– Brazil: An emerging clean and dirty tanker market focus
– Highlights from a record year in container rates and volumes
– Latin America in focus: Regional impacts from global trends
– Solving the dilemma of bunker charge opacity
Dec 15, 2020
S&P Global Platts will begin publication of two new Aframax assessments in the Mediterranean and change the basket for the current cross-Mediterranean Aframax assessment in the West of Suez dirty tanker markets from Feb. 1, 2021.
Crude oil trading patterns in the Mediterranean basin have continued to evolve, with certain routes pricing at premiums or discounts to the current cross-Mediterranean assessment on Aframaxes.
Platts has observed an increasing number of fixtures for the following routes:
80,000 mt Sidi Kerir to Mediterranean
80,000 mt Libya to Mediterranean
Platts will publish daily spot and monthly average assessments for these two routes in order to better capture the growing diversity and to better reflect the spot freight markets in the Mediterranean basin.
The 80,000 mt Sidi Kerir to Mediterranean assessment will be based on the following freight basket:
Sidi Kerir to Cartagena; Sidi Kerir to Trieste; Sidi Kerir to Livorno
The 80,000 mt Libya to Mediterranean assessment proposed freight basket has changed following market feedback and alteration in exports’ share from the different ports.
The new basket will be based on the following routes:
Es Sider to Trieste; Bouri to Fos; Zuetina to Sarroch
Platts will also change the basket of the current 80,000 mt Aframax cross-Mediterranean assessment, from the current basket:
Sidi Kerir to Lavera; La Skhirra to Augusta; Ceyhan to Trieste
The new freight basket for the cross-Mediterranean 80,000 mt assessment will be:
Ceyhan to Trieste; Ceyhan to Augusta; Ceyhan to Huelva
The name will also be amended to Ceyhan-Mediterranean from Mediterranean-Mediterranean.
Platts is also amending the name of the demurrage assessment for the Med-Med run basis 80,000 mt (AMEDB00) to Ceyhan-Med, and amending this to reflect the Ceyhan-to-Mediterranean basket.
Please send all comments or questions to shipping and pricegroup. For written comments, please provide a clear indication if comments are not intended for publication by Platts for public viewing. Platts will consider all comments received and will make comments not marked as confidential available to the public upon request.
Jan 18, 2021
The Aframax Minerva Clara loaded a 700,000 barrel stem of Anyala crude from the Abigail-Joseph floating production, storage and offloading vessel on Jan. 10, and the tanker is on its way to the Fos-sur-Mer terminal, located at France’s Mediterranean port of Marseille, according to data intelligence firm Kpler.
Sources said trading house Vitol had chartered this tanker, as it has a stake in indigenous producer FIRST E&P, which is the operator of the Anyala West oil fields, located in the shallow waters of the Niger Delta.
A representative at Vitol wasn’t immediately available for comment on the matter.
One market source said the cargo is likely to travel from Fos-sur-Mer to the Cressier refinery in Switzerland through the SPSE pipeline.
The 68,000 b/d Cressier is operated by Varo Energy.
Varo Energy is a joint venture between Vitol, private equity fund the Carlyle Group, and private investment fund Reggeborgh.
Sources said that a second cargo will load in March, with some Asian refiners already showing buying interest.
Anyala has been labeled a medium sweet crude grade, similar in quality to Nigeria’s flagship crude Bonny Light, sources added.
When refined, Anyala will produce a high yield of middle distillates, making it attractive to both simple and complex refineries.
The new crude is from Nigeria’s shallow-water Anyala West oil fields in the Niger Delta, which struck first oil in November,
The fields in blocks OMLs 83 & 85 are expected to reach 60,000 b/d when fully developed, according to FIRST E&P.
Anyala is the country’s newest oil development since the start-up of the giant Egina field in late-2018.
Seven development wells have been planned in Phase 1 in the Anyala West field (OML 83), which will be developed along with the nearby Madu field in (OML 85). The project is estimated to contain 300 million barrels of crude oil recoverable reserves.
The final investment decision on the project was made in July 2018, while first oil was initially expected in 2019.
OMLs 83 & 85 are located in the shallow waters offshore Bayelsa State in southern Nigeria.
Nigerian oil output has fallen sharply in the past six months as it has come under pressure to adhere to its OPEC+ cut obligations. Some of the country’s key grades like Qua Iboe, Forcados and Brass River have also recently faced outages.
Nigeria’s crude and condensate production slumped to around 1.66 million b/d in 2020 from 2.04 million b/d in 2019, according to S&P Global Platts estimates. This was its lowest annual output figure since 2016, when militancy in the Niger Delta pushed output to as low as 1.60 million b/d.
Jan 18, 2021
A surge in demand for low sulfur material from the utilities sector to meet peak winter season heating demand, especially from North Asian markets that have traditionally relied instead on cleaner burning fuels like LNG, has prompted LSFO suppliers to sit up and plan balances in January in a way they did not have to for most of last year when availability was ample.
“Last year we never worried about oil for the next month, but now we have to plan,” a Singapore-based LSFO trader at a western company said.
A resurgence in demand for LSFO as a burning fuel has also come at a time when both buyers and sellers are in the midst of looking to pile on product after de-stocking for the financial year end in December.
Current steady demand from the end-user low sulfur marine fuels market, especially from buyers that have inked contracts for January supply, if not so much from the spot market, has also bolstered market sentiment.
Further to North Asian markets like Japan and South Korea stepping up imports of low sulfur fuel oil to meet incremental domestic utility demand amid a cold snap, demand for high sulfur fuel oil as a burning fuel has remained firm from the Middle East and South Asia.
In Japan, some domestic refiners have been unable to increase fuel oil output at short notice to meet a surge in utility demand, S&P Global Platts reported Jan. 15 quoting Japanese refinery sources.
Chugoku Electric has resorted to importing fuel oil in addition to its domestic procurement, Platts reported, quoting a company official.
At least three South Korean utility companies have also been in the spot market to procure a cargo each of LSFO for delivery over January and February, traders said.
Taiwan’s CPC Corporation has maintained its purchase of at least 1 LSFO cargo per month to meet domestic utility demand, market sources said.
In the Middle East, Kuwait Petroleum Corp. has bought three 80,000 mt HSFO cargoes for January to meet utility demand, while its Mina Abdullah refinery, which normally supplies product to meet domestic demand, undergoes upgrade works.
Kuwait is likely to continue importing HSFO over February to meet its local power generation demand amid domestic refinery upgrades, Platts reported Jan. 7, quoting a company source.
Utility demand for fuel oil from other regional buyers like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh also remained steady, traders said.
“Clearly, there is more [fuel oil] going to meet utility demand, but there is also demand for bunkering…[South] Korea, China, Hong Kong, for example,” another Singapore-based fuel oil trader at a western company said.
Given the current demand-supply balances, market sentiment was generally optimistic.
A western arbitrage fuel oil volume of just over 2 million mt is expected to arrive in Singapore for January, down 500,000-600,000 mt from December, market sources said.
Incremental demand, both from the regional utility sector and the end-user marine fuels market, will likely hasten a drawdown in stocks in landed tanks and on floaters off Singapore, traders said.
Singapore’s commercial onshore residue stocks edged down 0.94% week on week to 22.304 million barrels, or 3.52 million mt, in the week to Jan. 13 amid a doubling of fuel oil exports, latest available data from Enterprise Singapore showed.
Reflecting the bullish sentiment, the benchmark Singapore marine fuel 0.5%S cargo market’s premium to the Mean of Platts Singapore marine fuel 0.5%S assessment hit a near 11-month high of $3.58/mt Jan. 15. The premium was last higher on Feb. 26 last year at $4.92/mt, Platts data showed.
Also underpinning the bullish sentiment was a strengthening of the market structure at the front of the Singapore marine fuel 0.5%S swaps curve, which touched a 49-week high of $3/mt Jan. 11 before ending the trading week at $2.80/mt on Jan. 15, Platts data showed.
“The market is more bullish. This year is different because we are working with lower inventory. This year we need bigger arbitrage [volumes],” the first fuel oil trader said.
Jan 11, 2021
S&P Global Platts will begin publishing six new daily container bunker charge assessments, complementing existing container assessments, on Feb. 1, 2020.
The bunker charge assessments will reflect the bunker costs for transporting a 40-foot container on the above routes and will be expressed in $/FEU.
The assessments will be calculated using $/mt bunker prices in representative ports, published by Platts.
VLSFO PBC27 and PBC28 – Tokyo, South Korea, Shanghai, Zhoushan, Singapore.
VLSFO PBC29 and PBC30 — South Korea, Shanghai, Zhoushan, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, El Callo, Valparaiso.
VLSFO PBC31 and PBC32 — South Korea, Shanghai, Zhoushan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Santos, Montevideo, Buenos Aires.
The bunker charge round voyage weighting allocation, vessel speed and consumption used in the bunker charge calculations are arrived at through market survey and reflect market practice.
All assessments will reflect the use of 0.5% marine fuel and will include a sea margin of 5%.
The voyage durations are arrived at through market survey and the vessel will proceed on a round-voyage basis to ports in geographical rotation within the below ranges.
PBC27 and PBC28 — North Asia – Australasia range
PBC29 and PBC30 — North Asia – West Coast South America range
PBC31 and PBC32 — North Asia – East Coast South America range
The above variables used in calculating bunker charge assessments will be regularly updated to reflect market practice and new regulations.
Prices will be published in Platts Dry Freight Wire, Platts Global Alert service and on the Platts Platform on fixed page PGA 3950, and in the Platts pricing database.
Please send any comments or questions to shipping@spglobal.com, containers@spglobal.com, and pricegroup@spglobal.com.
For written comments, please provide a clear indication if comments are not intended for publication by Platts for public viewing.
Platts will consider all comments received and will make comments not marked as confidential available upon request.