Hey,

Every time you buy something that crossed an ocean — electronics, clothes, food, raw materials — part of what you paid was bunker fuel. You just didn't know it.

Bunker fuel is the substance that powers the vessels carrying over 80% of global trade by volume. It's cheap by aviation standards, dirty by almost any standard and completely invisible to the end consumer. Nobody talks about it. Nobody tracks it. And yet the global bunker fuel market was valued at over $150 billion in 2024 — larger than the GDP of most countries.

The situation in the Strait of Hormuz is currently reminding the industry, once again, just how fragile this market can be. Reports indicate prices in Singapore — the world's largest bunkering hub — have risen sharply in recent weeks. Shipping companies are absorbing the costs for now. They won't forever.

But the price spike is just the visible layer. What's underneath is more interesting.