Heavy fog loomed in Bohai Bay on Feb 22, and bunkering business was halted in major local coal transit ports, like Qinhuangdao, Jingtang and Caofeidian, bunker suppliers told C1.
In particular, bunker refueling paused in Qinhuangdao and ships took shelter within the port.
Since Feb 18, coastal waters around Qinhuangdao witnessed large foggy weather. In result, traffic density of ships became high and many vessels docked around the area. "Visibility was less than 1 nautical mile at one stage, currently there are 170 ships docked in the harbor waiting for the fog to fade," a Qinhuangdao-based bunker supplier expressed.
As the weather improves, refueling activities would recover in near future, many suppliers said.
Due to price markups of oil products, bunker traders held strong wait-and-see sentiment. This coupled with foggy weather caused rather sluggish bunker sales. On the other hand, bunker inventory around Bohai Bay remained at a normal level, which could meet future refueling demand with no problem, market sources indicated.
