London (Platts)--6May2011/901 am EDT/1301 GMT
The collapse in front-month ICE Brent crude prices by about $9/barrel Thursday has had a serious effect on bunker suppliers across Northwest Europe and the Mediterranean, shipping sources said Friday. "Some of the physical suppliers in Rotterdam, Gibraltar and Singapore have taken a serious beating during the last 24 hours," a shipping source in the NWE said, adding that profit margins were severely affected since the bunker prices in some ports lost around $50/mt. "We have products in our tanks and the price in the tanks did not change," a bunker supplier in Istanbul said. "A change of -$61.50/mt for marine diesel is not a normal change and -$34/mt for high sulfur fuel oil is not a small change either," the supplier added. Some bunker suppliers in NWE and the Mediterranean remained hesitant Friday morning and were not quoting in anticipation of crude prices settling, sources said. "[It is] hard to get firm figures now," a bunker supplier in Antwerp said, adding that market participants were still doing their calculations. "We have seen some major drops in the physical market in Asia today [Friday]...Europe is a bit slow since suppliers are waiting to see what the day will bring," a source in NWE said. "No market movements so far...I have a feeling today we will not see a lot [going on]," a trader in Hamburg added. On Friday, some suppliers in Rotterdam were heard quoting prices for 380 CST HSFO at $590-592/mt after offering the same product at $648-660/mt on Thursday. On Thursday, Platts assessed 380 CST HSFO in Rotterdam at $621.50/mt.--George Martiniuc, george_martiniuc@platts.comSimilar stories appear in Bunkerwire. See more information at http://www.platts.com/Products/bunkerwire