1. What 

important fuel quality is to your bottom line?  

Fuel quality is important. Buying bunkers at the best price might turn out to be counterproductive if the fuel quality is significantly lower than anticipated. Mitigating the risk of buying fuel of inferior quality often means improving your understanding of the market and more importantly, gaining a better and broader understanding of the port and supplier landscape. 

2. Where  

Are you returning to familiar vendors in the same ports?

Always staying on top of the geographical price spreads between key bunkering ports is no small task. Operators and bunker buyers have the responsibility to gather and digest vast amounts of information before they decide on where to bunker their vessels. With price spreads and volatility we see opportunities for shipping companies to save up to $10-30/mts by choosing the right port at the right time. Bringing data and converting this into actionable insight is critical to improve the purchasing performance. 

 
3. How much 

Have you looked at the size of your stems?

The frequency and volume of your stems can tell you a lot about how well you are planning your bunker procurement. It is one of the simplest indicators of how well planned your operations are and how the smooth collaboration between operators and bunker buyers is running. A large number of smaller stems might indicate that your bunker planning needs a review. Understanding the minimum and maximum volume of bunker to buy and avoiding having to ‘panic buy’ along the voyage comes down to essentially having a clear and transparent line of communication between operators and bunker buyers. 
 

4. When 

How in-depth is your understanding of market trends?

Understanding the market and when to buy is key, especially in terms of how trends differ across the market. Make sure to broaden your scope when it comes to your market view and don’t rely on the same trend being true across the board. Understanding real, dynamic market data is very different than just being focused on buying under a benchmark. If you continue to rely on market averages you will only ever produce average results. You need to take into consideration your performance, timing in the market, look at momentum indicators and trends, and pair these with port information. This can all help you plan for when to bunker.
 

5. How 
 

Are you relying on ‘doing business as usual’ when it comes to bunker procurement?

In general, ‘business as usual’ is treacherous when it comes to buying marine fuel, due to the constant fluctuations in the market. Bunker buyers usually have three different tools in the tool box to secure fuel at the lowest possible price; a) spot, b) contract and c) derivatives. Having a mix between all three tools often delivers the best result, however, using derivatives requires a more complex risk management infrastructure and governance in place. Deploying a procurement strategy with a good mix between contract and spot pricing often delivers attractive results if structured the right way. 

6. From whom 

Are you getting enough offers to truly know if you’re getting a good deal on bunker procurement?

Lastly, getting complete supplier coverage is imperative. Most bunker buyers leave money on the table by collecting far too few offers from suppliers. It is not uncommon for buyers to be able to achieve savings of $3-8/mts by diligently executing a competitive price discovery and negotiating process with multiple suppliers to ensure the entire physical market is covered..