Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) and Nippon Oil Corp. agreed on Jan. 12 to set the price of C fuel oil for December 2005 shipments (for delivery in the Tokyo Bay area) at $336.20 per ton, a modest hike from $331.80 for November shipments. The two industry leaders had agreed on a price cut for two consecutive months in October and November.
C fuel oil prices have now been kept above the $300 mark for five straight months since August 2005. With global crude prices again on the uptrend, fuel oil prices are likely to stay high over the coming months.
              C fuel oil prices transpired at $220-270 per ton in the first quarter (January-March) of 2005, topping the $300 mark for the first time in April. The prices hovered in the upper half of $250 between May and July, soaring above $300 again in August. They zoomed to a record $351 in September.
              By month, per-ton prices of bunker oil in 2005 stood at $226 in January, $231 in February, $264 in March, $302 in April, $284 in May, $281 in June, $293 in July, $305 in August, $351 in September, $345 in October and $331 in November.
Meanwhile, Nippon Oil and NYK agreed to set the price of Grade A heavy oil used as auxiliary fuel at $504 per ton for December ($503 in November).