Platts to add minimum viscosity of 30 CST to global Marine Fuel 0.5% assessments

S&P Global Platts will add a minimum viscosity of 30 CST at 50 degrees Celsius to its global Marine Fuel 0.5% assessments across all regions and sizes, including cargoes, barges and bunker deliveries, effective April 1, 2020.

Following an extended period of research, Platts understands that residual marine grade fuels with a viscosity of at least 30 CST are currently considered broadly deliverable.

This was outlined in a clarification note on the merchantability of Marine Fuel 0.5%, published January 17 and available here:

https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/our-methodology/subscriber-notes/011720-merchantability-of-low-viscosity-marine-fuel-05s-cargoes-in-platts-moc

This was followed by a proposal note to add a minimum viscosity of 30 CST to all Marine Fuel 0.5% assessments, published February 10 and available here:

https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/our-methodology/subscriber-notes/021020-platts-proposes-to-add-minimum-viscosity-of-30-cst-to-global-marine-fuel-05-assessments

Platts also understands that a significant range of ship owners require minimum viscosity guarantees in their bunker purchases.

Platts Marine Fuel 0.5% sulfur cargo, barge and bunker assessments reflect specifications for RMG fuels as defined by the International Organization for Standardization in document ISO 8217:2010 Petroleum products -- Fuels (class F) -- Specifications of marine fuels, but with a maximum sulfur limit of 0.5%. Following this change, these specifications will remain the same, but with the addition of the minimum viscosity requirement of 30 CST at 50 degs C.

All cargoes or barges delivered as a result of transactions reported during the Platts MOC process must be tested against all parameters of the RMG standards, including viscosity.

In addition, the International Standards Organization released its Publicly Available Specification 23263:2019 document regarding Marine Fuel 0.5%S quality in September 2019. In that document, the ISO stated that the Total Sediment Accelerated test currently typically employed for bunker deliveries may be unreliable for the new fuel. It recommended the use of the Total Sediment Potential test. The TSP test requires 24 hours for a result to be given.

Per the ISO's recommendation, Platts expects sellers to provide COAs with a complete TSP result.

Please send any comments or questions by to oilgroup@spglobal.com and pricegroup@spglobal.com. Platts will consider all comments received and will make comments not marked as confidential available upon request.