# IMO ballast water and low-sulphur rules puts pressure on ocean…

> Industry reporting citing the USDA says the IMO's January 2020 ballast water and 0.5% sulphur fuel rules are slowing dry bulk fleet expansion and pushing up ocean freight rates for grain and oilseeds. Carriers are adding fuel surcharges, and rail and truck diesel costs are expected to rise as well.

- Date: 2019-11-26 · published 2019-11-26T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: logistics · region Global · magnitude medium
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/55974-imo-ballast-water-and-low-sulphur-rules-puts-pressure-on-ocean
- Commodities: [Ocean Grain Freight](https://feedsoft.ai/c/OCEANFRT.md), [ULSD / Diesel](https://feedsoft.ai/c/DIESEL.md)

## Why it matters

Tighter bulk shipping capacity and higher fuel surcharges raise export freight costs for US and South American grain and oilseeds. This supports ocean rates and can widen origin-to-destination price spreads.

## Read by commodity

- DIESEL: bullish ▲
- OCEANFRT: bullish ▲

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| DIESEL | 2019-06-17 | [US agriculture exporters under low-sulfur fuel pressure \| Journal of Commerce](https://feedsoft.ai/events/58773-us-agriculture-exporters-under-low-sulfur-fuel-pressure-journal-of-commerce.md) | +4.9% | +6.7% |
| DIESEL | 2019-11-23 | [Logistics putting on the pressure  — this week in the grain markets - RealAgriculture](https://feedsoft.ai/events/56109-logistics-putting-on-the-pressure-this-week-in-the-grain-markets-realagriculture.md) | -2.4% | +4.4% |
| DIESEL | 2024-02-07 | [US West Coast distillate prices jump on flare reports, export demand](https://feedsoft.ai/events/31858-us-west-coast-distillate-prices-jump-on-flare-reports-export-demand.md) | +5.2% | -2.8% |
| DIESEL | 2020-10-07 | [Products: ULSD Firms on Lower Russian Arrivals \| Energy Intelligence](https://feedsoft.ai/events/50829-products-ulsd-firms-on-lower-russian-arrivals-energy-intelligence.md) | -1.1% | -4.6% |
| DIESEL | 2024-10-09 | [Asian high sulfur gasoil strengthens on Indonesian buying interest](https://feedsoft.ai/events/11689-asian-high-sulfur-gasoil-strengthens-on-indonesian-buying-interest.md) | -4.9% | +0.3% |

## Sources

- ofimagazine.com: https://www.ofimagazine.com/news/imo-ballast-water-and-low-sulphur-rules-puts-pressure-on-ocean-freight-rate

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Data from Feedsoft AI (https://feedsoft.ai/). For information only; not investment advice.