Bunker trading volume in Japan dropped to low level, as Japanese refineries gave priority to oil demand from quake-stricken areas.
Many Japanese bunker suppliers including Hanwa, Mitsui Oil and Trans-Tec (Japan), lately recorded "very limited" sales, according to sources with the companies. A bunker supplier revealed the company even hadn't sold any bunker since Mar 21.
Due to tight upstream supply, bunker prices rose obviously in Japan, market sources said.
Price spread of 380CST bunker fuel oil between Japan's Osaka and Nagoya and Singapore has widened to over US$60/mt up till Mar 23, versus the normal level of about US$50/mt one week before the Mar 11 earthquake, C1's data showed.
As post-disaster rebuilding would take some time, most of the related fuel oil reserves would be used for reconstruction in the future. Hence, tight bunker supply would continue and Japan's bunker prices would remain high, market sources pointed out.
As of Mar 23, ships could dock in Japan's top five ports (by throughput), namely, Yokohama, Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka and Kobe. However, some major ports in Northeast Japan, such as Sendai and Kashima, were still closed.
