Drewry launches fuel advisory services for shippers and forwarders

The new services extend Drewry’s advisory capability at a time when fuel is becoming an increasingly important part of transport costs and increasingly subject to regulations.

Philip Damas, Head of Drewry, said: “Following implementation of the IMO 2020 low-sulfur rule change, we have already seen extreme variations in fuel charges between carriers on the same tradelane for similar ship sizes – even shared vessels.”

The company has been working closely with shippers and industry representative organisations such as the European Shipper’s Council (ESC) in recent months on a number of initiatives aimed at improving fuel cost transparency and contractual practices. This could allow shippers to reduce their exposure to excessive BAFs and have greater control over and understanding of the fuel portion of ocean freight rates.

“We anticipate confusion over the new charges introduced by carriers will continue for some months yet as the market fully adapts to the new fuel standard,” said Damas. “By helping review their existing processes and implementing a standard BAF mechanism, covering measurement and adjustment periods, fuel prices and index formulae, we believe shippers and forwarders can gain both clarity and more control over fuel prices.”

The company will continue to monitor and report developments closely via Drewry’s Benchmarking Club, which gives exporters and importers exclusive access to average contract bunker charges by tradelane and the company’s low sulfur reference bunker index tracker.

Read the article online at: https://www.drybulkmagazine.com/shipping/09012020/drewry-launches-fuel-advisory-services-for-shippers-and-forwarders/