Inatech, a unit of Glencore that specialises in energy trading risk management systems, has built the ‘Smart Trader’ app to enable companies to map their entire fleet of ships and visualise best routes given sea and port conditions to achieve lowest prices for the desired quality of fuel.
The toolkit leverages bunker alerts and pricing data from S&P Global Platts, and Torm is now among the first clients to work with Inatech.
With S&P Global Platts estimating that complying with the IMO 2020 sulphur cap will add $60bn to bunker fuel costs, the new toolkit aims to help by scouring the globe in real-time for the optimal bunker ports to help operators save costs.
“Improved technology is vital because the new IMO rules will not only increase costs but could also trigger unprecedented volatility in prices as a widening array of choice between the various fuel oil types skews supply and demand dynamics in what is still a relatively opaque market,” said Inatech ceo Jean-Hervé Jenn. “That motivates our push to broaden the available options for bunker buyers, who will suddenly be immersed in an infinitely more complex market in less than a year’s time.”
From 2020, shipping will need to use fuel with a maximum sulphur content of 0.5%, down from the current 3.5%, under IMO’s Marpol Annex VI global regulation.
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With an expected jump in bunker fuel price volatility, the Smart Trader app enables companies to track their vessels on an integrated system that manages fuel levels on board and updates with live prices and news for supply en route.
The interactive platform displays which ships in the fleet are running low on fuel, whether their fuel type is compatible with availability, optimal pricing in the direction of travel, and optimal rerouting if necessary.
Potential suppliers are checked for quality and credit references to control counterparty risk, moving the bunker buyer from operational to analytical.
The app is backed by S&P Global Platts data spanning refined wholesale and retail marine fuels including all standard ULSFO, LSFO, IFO, MGO and MDO grades at more than 350 ports worldwide, along with regional indices, 28-day spreads, and moving averages.
Smart Trader also includes Platts’ new IMO 2020 compliant 0.5% sulphur cargo price assessments for the ports of Rotterdam, US Atlantic Coast, US Gulf Coast, Fujairah and Singapore.
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