While Coronavirus is continuing to challenge shipping worldwide, it is having an effect on global and regional indices for fuel prices that are significantly decreased.
According to the Athens-based broker Allied Shipping, it is estimated that demand for crude oil imports has fallen by around 20% so far. The impact has been equally dramatic for the global oil industry, taking under consideration that today China is the biggest oil importer in the world, the Greek broker adds.
The same report says that according to the International Energy Agency, the situation will severely affect the market, with forecasts showing that the world’s demand for crude oil will decline in the first quarter of the year for the first time in the last ten years.
Bunker prices will follow the crude oil price, so the likelihood is that the price of fuel will continue to slide in the current climate, but of far more interest to some owners, those that have fitted exhaust gas cleaning systems, or scrubbers, will be the spread between HFO and VLSFO. And the global index shows a further narrowing of that spread.
ource: MABUX
