Cape Town bunker prices
ZACPT · ZA · Major bunkering hub
Arithmetic on the 6 nearest ports where a price was observed, weighted by distance. Nobody has quoted this at Cape Town, and it carries nothing about the barge, the volume or your credit — which is what actually sets the number.
Why there is no assessment here yet
Only 0 observations in the last 72 hours. We publish an assessment from 3 or more.
No price is published for this port yet. Our assessment is built only from what we observe here — prices suppliers submit to us, quotes received against requests raised here, and stems that close — so it appears once this port has traffic. A request raised now still reaches suppliers; it does not wait for an index.
Our own assessment, computed from observations made on this platform: prices submitted by suppliers, quotes received against requests raised here, and stems that closed. Weighted by how firm each observation is (a closed stem counts three times a list price), by how recent it is, and by parcel size. Values more than 15% from the median are excluded. No third-party assessment is used as an input, and no number is published from fewer than three observations or fewer than two independent sources.
Taking fuel at Cape Town
Operational notes, from the port authority and the suppliers’ own published documents. Checked 2026-08-30.
You have to come inside. Agents' port guides for Cape Town state that the bunker barge may deliver at any berth within the port but is not permitted to bunker vessels at the anchorage or off port limits; Transnet does not publish that restriction itself, so confirm it before planning anything outside. Taken at face value it means every stem costs a full port entry, pilotage inward and outward included. Inside, a UN logistics assessment of the port records 61 bunkering points, with fuel oil delivered by pipeline at most berths and gas oil delivered by barge, so the berth you are given largely determines how you are fuelled. AMSOL has run the barge side under a multi-year contract with Astron Energy since 2023, operating two bunker barges and four product tankers across its South African ports; road-tanker delivery inside the port is separately licensed, AB Shipping being one operator covering Cape Town. Marine gas oil, VLSFO, HSFO, ultra-low-sulphur diesel and lubricants are quoted here, but Astron is the only South African refiner still producing marine fuels and national bunker sales fell below 900,000 tonnes in 2024, so confirm the grade rather than assume it. Two constraints on timing: tankers are restricted to daylight berthing and unberthing, double-hull vessels sometimes excepted, and the summer south-easter brings vessel and container work in this exposed port to a sporadic standstill, with strong winds again through the Cape winter. Nobody publishes a maximum stem size, a notice period, or whether bunkering may proceed simultaneously with cargo.
- The no-bunkering-at-anchorage rule is stated only by shipping agents, not by Transnet National Ports…
- Bunker barge names and capacities, and pumping rates, are not published by AMSOL or Astron Energy
- Maximum stem size and minimum notice period are published nowhere
- Whether bunkering may run concurrently with cargo work at container or bulk berths is not addressed
- The 61 bunkering points / pipeline-versus-barge split comes from a dated port assessment and is not…
Ask the supplier to confirm these before you fix a stem on them.
Who supplies fuel at Cape Town
2 of these are on the port authority's register of licensed suppliers. The rest publish their own coverage of this port.
Their bunker desks, or send one request and let the replies come to you.
The working behind the estimate above.
Those are prices at those ports, not at Cape Town, and the distances are great-circle rather than routed. The estimate above is arithmetic on them — it carries no information about the barge, the volume or your credit, which is what actually sets the number. A request is the only way to get a real one.
Indicative only. Typical stem time here is about 8 hours alongside.
VLSFO at nearby and alternative ports
| Port | Grade | USD / MT | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|
Rotterdamlow | VLSFO | $663 | 2026-08-31 |
| VLSFO | $680 | 2026-08-31 | |
| VLSFO | $695 | 2026-08-31 | |
| VLSFO | $734 | 2026-08-31 | |
| VLSFO | $781 | 2026-08-31 | |
| VLSFO | $785 | 2026-08-31 |
Indicative, delivered basis. Source: a licensed feed. Not an offer to sell — a firm price exists only once a supplier has quoted.
A lower headline price at another port is not automatically a saving. Deviation burns fuel and charter hire, and a bunker-only call costs port time.
Cape Town bunkering FAQ
- What is the bunker price at Cape Town today?
- No price is published at Cape Town. The closest port where one is, is Santos, about 3,399 nautical miles away — VLSFO at $781 a tonne.
- Is Cape Town a cheap bunkering port?
- Whether a port is cheap for your vessel depends on the deviation cost, not just the headline price — reaching a cheaper port costs charter hire and fuel.
- Does EU ETS apply at Cape Town?
- Cape Town is outside the EU/EEA, so EU ETS does not apply to a call here in itself. It may still apply to the voyage legs if your vessel is heading to or from an EU port.