Mon 2 Feb 2015 09:58

Fourth consecutive month of high price volatility


Bunker price volatility remained above $45 during the month of January.



Bunker price volatility during the month of January remained above $45 for the fourth consecutive month, according to Bunker Index price data.

In a comparison of low-to-high differentials for the daily Bunker Index (BIX) global average, January recorded a differential of $48.61 per tonne, down from $91.04 per tonne in December - the highest level since Bunker Index began publishing volatility data in April 2009.

The lowest daily global bunker average last month was 477.44 per tonne, recorded on January 28, whilst the highest price was $526.05 per tonne on January 2.

It is only the fourth time in 21 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). Between May 2013 and September 2014, only the months of August 2013 and September 2014 recorded volatility levels above $20.

Please find below a table showing the intra-month price volatility of global bunker prices between April 2009 and January 2015.

All prices are in USD per metric tonne.

Month Low-High
Differential ($)
Low ($) High ($)
Jan-15 48.61 477.44 526.05
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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