Marine fuel will hit record highs this year

The price of marine fuel, which makes up 70% of transportation costs, will reach a record high this year as export cuts crimp supplies, said McQuilling Services. Fuel will cost US$690 a metric ton on average, 2.7% higher than last year’s US$672, the Garden City, New York-based adviser said in an e-mailed report. The bunkers will keep climbing to US$760 a ton by 2017, McQuilling forecast. Costs more than quadrupled in the past 10 years, it added. The global merchant fleet uses more than 370 million tons of fuel each year, according to Freight Investor Services, a London-based freight-derivatives broker.