Bunker fuel benchmarks have mostly moved downwards, and demand has slowed in Houston and New York.

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Changes on the day to 08.00 CDT (13.00 GMT) today:

• VLSFO prices down in Zona Comun ($17/mt), New York ($8/mt), Los Angeles ($4/mt), Balboa ($3/mt) and Houston ($2/mt)
• LSMGO prices down in Zona Comun ($25/mt), Houston and New York ($7/mt), Balboa ($6/mt) and Los Angeles ($5/mt)
• HSFO prices up in New York ($1/mt), unchanged in Balboa, and down in Houston ($5/mt) and Los Angeles ($3/mt)

New York's HSFO price has been the only one to record an increase, while all other prices have either fallen or remained unchanged. The grade is currently trading at a premium of $27/mt over Houston and $3/mt over Philadelphia.

Bunker demand has slumped in New York this week.

"Overall demand has been down this week, but the past couple of weeks were very busy so it had to even out at some point," a source said.

Demand has also slowed down in Houston, where availability has improved.

"Avails are honestly looking much better than in the past few weeks," a source noted.

Both VLSFO and HSFO can be delivered within lead times of 3-5 days, while LSMGO is more readily available and can be delivered within three days.

Zona Comun's VLSFO and LSMGO prices have made the biggest drops in the past session. Availability is normal with recommended lead times of 5-6 days.

The anchorage location is currently facing heavy fog conditions, leading to frequent and intermittent bunker suspensions.

Brent

The front-month ICE Brent contract lost $0.64/bbl on the day, to trade at $69.49/bbl at 08.00 CDT (13.00 GMT).

Upward pressure:

The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned 22 entities based in Hong Kong, the UAE and Türkiye for facilitating the sale of Iranian oil that benefits the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF). This move has supported Brent futures.

“Crude oil prices rallied in early trading amid renewed efforts to crimp Iranian oil exports. The US Treasury designated 22 foreign entities based in Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey [Türkiye] for their roles in facilitating the sale of Iranian oil,” said Daniel Hynes, senior commodity strategist at ANZ Bank.

Meanwhile, the US dollar has weakened following a sharp drop in Treasury yields after Wednesday’s 10-year note auction saw strong demand, according to a Reuters report.

The weaker dollar added further support to oil prices.

Downward pressure:

Market watchers remain concerned about the potential impact of US President Donald Trump’s latest tariff announcements on global economic growth.

On Wednesday, Trump threatened Brazil with a 50% tariff on exports to the US following a public dispute with his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. He also announced plans to impose new tariffs on copper, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals, and issued tariff notices to countries including the Philippines, Iraq, South Korea and Japan, according to Reuters.

US commercial crude inventories rose sharply, adding further downward pressure to Brent futures.

According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), crude stockpiles surged by 7.1 million barrels to 426 million barrels for the week ending 4 July.

Oil’s "gains were reversed after government data showed a larger than expected rise in oil inventories in the US. Commercial stockpiles of crude rose by 7.1mbbls last week, the biggest gains since January,” Hynes said.

By Gautamee Hazarika and Tuhin Roy

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