Fri 2 Jan 2015 17:14

December the most volatile month of 2014


Bunker price volatility was at its highest since Bunker Index began publishing volatility data in April 2009.



Bunker price volatility during the month of December was at its highest level since Bunker Index began publishing volatility data in April 2009.

In a comparison of low-to-high differentials for the daily Bunker Index (BIX) global average, December recorded a differential of $91.04 per tonne, up from $53.50 per tonne in November.

The lowest daily global bunker average last month was 525.09 per tonne, recorded on December 30, whilst the highest price was $616.13 per tonne on December 1.

It is only the third time in 20 months (since April 2013) that bunker price volatility has been above $24. Prior to October, volatility had remained below $20 for 12 consecutive months (between September 2013 and August 2014). Only the months of September 2014 and August 2013 recorded volatility levels above $20 during this 20-month period.

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

All prices are in USD per metric tonne.

Month Low-High
Differential ($)
Low ($) High ($)
Dec-14 91.04 525.09 616.13
Nov-14 53.50 619.07 672.57
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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