Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) has become the first liner major to take action against the extraordinarily volatile fuel bills it is facing, announcing yesterday that all spot and quarterly contracts on Asia trades will be reviewed on a fortnightly – not monthly – basis beginning in the middle of next month. MSC, the world’s largest container line, announced yesterday that “the current global political scenario is causing huge, and unpredictable, changes in global fuel prices.” Changes to the gasoline surcharge will take effect on April 15. Fuel prices have been rising for many months. Back in the summer of 2008, a couple of months ahead of the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the global financial crisis, the average price for IFO 380 fuel, then the dominant shipping fuel, at the world’s top four bunkering hubs averaged $739.25 per tonne. The day before Russia invaded Ukraine last month low sulphur fuel (VLSFO) prices at the same four ports – as tracked by Ship&Bunker – stood at a new high of $741. They have since leapt dramatically, crossing the the $1,000 per tonne mark for the first time in history at key bunkering hubs eight days ago as commodity prices spiked across the board in the wake of the war with the price of Brent crude topping the $130 per barrel mark earlier this month. High sulphur fuel oil also crossed the $700 mark at the same time.
