Tue 4 Nov 2014 12:03

October was the most volatile month since May 2012


Bunker price volatility analysis - October 2014.



Bunker price volatility rose to its highest level since May 2012, according to Bunker Index price data.

In a comparison of low-high differentials for the daily Bunker Index (BIX) global average, October recorded a low-high differential of $67.31 per tonne, up from $23.37 per tonne in September.

The lowest daily global bunker average last month was $674.79 per tonne, recorded on October 28, whilst the highest price was $742.10 per tonne on October 1.

It is the first time in 18 months (since April 2013) that bunker price volatility has been above $24. Prior to this, volatility had remained below $20 for 12 consecutive months (between September 2013 and August 2014) for the first time since Bunker Index began publishing global bunker price volatility data in April 2009. Only the months of September 2014 and August 2013 recorded volatility levels above $20 during this 18-month period.

Please find below a table showing the intra-month price volatility of global bunker prices between April 2009 and October 2014.

All prices are in USD per metric tonne.

Month Low-High
Differential ($)
Low ($) High ($)
Oct-14 67.31 674.79 742.10
Sep-14 23.37 743.66 767.03
Aug-14 13.34 764.24 777.58
Jul-14 18.55 778.02 796.57
Jun-14 13.19 786.93 800.12
May-14 8.27 784.14 792.41
Apr-14 8.91 785.71 794.62
Mar-14 12.44 789.12 801.56
Feb-14 14.81 785.49 800.30
Jan-14 11.58 783.85 795.43
Dec-13 8.45 789.78 798.23
Nov-13 15.08 775.38 790.46
Oct-13 9.51 785.64 795.15
Sep-13 14.96 793.20 808.16
Aug-13 23.09 785.94 809.03
Jul-13 14.21 782.20 796.41
Jun-13 18.16 778.58 796.74
May-13 12.86 780.06 792.92
Apr-13 42.34 774.36 816.70
Mar-13 15.79 809.89 825.68
Feb-13 25.25 828.23 853.48
Jan-13 25.00 809.78 834.78
Dec-12 14.55 798.03 812.58
Nov-12 12.00 804.14 816.14
Oct-12 22.74 821.23 843.97
Sep-12 28.02 839.28 867.30
Aug-12 51.96 800.77 852.73
Jul-12 44.77 761.50 806.27
Jun-12 50.40 753.89 804.29
May-12 76.59 813.74 890.33
Apr-12 17.47 882.87 900.34
Mar-12 14.36 893.30 907.66
Feb-12 43.57 850.51 894.08
Jan-12 32.87 825.20 858.07
Dec-11 26.07 804.06 830.13
Nov-11 30.28 819.92 850.20
Oct-11 42.17 790.04 832.21
Sep-11 32.43 801.43 833.86
Aug-11 42.42 806.42 848.84
Jul-11 34.77 812.66 847.43
Jun-11 44.72 798.53 843.25
May-11 56.39 803.55 859.94
Apr-11 44.61 814.95 859.56
Mar-11 37.1 771.53 808.63
Feb-11 77.51 695.08 772.59
Jan-11 40.05 648.23 688.28
Dec-10 32.11 617.5 649.61
Nov-10 30.47 599.97 630.44
Oct-10 15.38 590.42 605.80
Sep-10 18.18 563.2 581.38
Aug-10 37.4 560.59 597.99
Jul-10 22.55 556.51 579.06
Jun-10 23.46 563.73 587.19
May-10 67.83 558.16 625.99
Apr-10 33.33 574.65 607.98
Mar-10 14.79 557.88 572.67
Feb-10 33.25 530.62 563.87
Jan-10 41.68 545.45 587.13
Dec-09 31.84534.52 566.36
Nov-09 9.54 547.65 567.95
Oct-09 48.22501.05 552.51
Sep-09 32.15493.40525.55
Aug-09 24.11 509.70 533.81
Jul-09 45.03460.73 505.76
Jun-09 43.44457.87501.31
May-09 66.56383.18 449.74
Apr-09 19.81370.12389.93

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