North America
Prompt VLSFO and LSMGO is available with several suppliers in the Houston area. One of these suppliers’ earliest delivery date is around two days out. Another supplier has tighter availability and needs at least a week of lead time to accommodate stems.
New York’s LSMGO price has been elevated against other ports for weeks on end, but improved availability has brought its premium over Houston down from a peak of almost $400/mt on 5 May – when supply was squeezed – to less than a third of that this week.
LSMGO supply is still tight for prompt dates with a supplier in New York, while VLSFO and stocks are reported to be better. Its delivery barge schedule is under pressure, however, so prompt dates can be hard to fit in. At least two other suppliers can deliver VLSFO and LSMGO at New York’s Stapleton anchorage with 2-3 days of lead time.
HSFO supply continues to be limited in Los Angeles and other West Coast ports. A supplier in Long Beach is waiting for clarification on HSFO resupply and has not yet set a date for its earliest expected bunker delivery date.
VLSFO and LSMGO availability is tight with two suppliers in San Francisco, requiring 8-10 days of lead time to supply vessels at anchorage.
The 257,000 b/d capacity Richmond refinery is slated for a six-week crude distillation (CDU) maintenance that started 15 June, according to Wood Mackenzie, which could continue to take some production capacity out of the market and keep supply tight.
Bunker suppliers in Canada’s Quebec will observe a public holiday on 24 June. The earliest bunker delivery dates with a supplier in Montreal and St. Lawrence is five days out.
Latin America
Prompt availability is tight for all grades in Panama. A supplier has a busy barge schedule in Balboa on several days the first week of July, but can deliver ex-pipe. Another can deliver by barge. The earliest delivery dates of two suppliers in Balboa are 6-8 days out.
Balboa’s bunker prices have risen to larger premiums over Houston over the past two weeks, especially its VLSFO and LSMGO grades.
Availability has tightened further in Trinidad, where a supplier now looks to the second week of July as its earliest for deliveries. A barge has been taken out of operation and is expected back in service at the end of the month.
A supplier in Brazil still only accepts a specific delivery date, not a range. The earliest delivery date in Paranagua is around six days out.
Bunkering was held back by rough weather at the Zona Comun anchorage last weekend, but had resumed by noon on Monday, shipping agent Antares said. Some ships were delayed from bunkering. The backlog was cleared during better weather conditions this week.
Prompt availability can be tight in Zona Comun, but several suppliers look to have available delivery slots towards the end of June and into the first week of next month.
Suppliers are running low on VLSFO stocks in Ecuador’s La Libertad and Guayaquil. One supplier’s earliest estimated delivery date is 18-19 days out.
HSFO is in better supply in Ecuador and priced competitively to most other regional ports. Only Panama’s Balboa and Cristobal, and Houston, have lower priced for the high sulphur grade.
Ecuadorian refineries typically have a high residual fuel oil yield, which tends to help make its HSFO more competitively priced than its low sulphur grades compared to other ports.
Source: ENGINE (https://engine.online/)