Grimaldi Group will review the price of Brent crude at the end of the month before deciding whether to cancel the fuel surcharge it introduced last July.

Sullivan Maritime, the Grimaldi agents in Malta, was asked by The Sunday Times of Malta about the so-called Bunker Adjustment Factor, after a few stakeholders complained that this was still being applied, even though the price of Brent crude had dropped by a quarter since then.

With the bulk of Malta’s trade being carried by Grimaldi, the stakeholders complained that while there were considerable objections to the increases in other port tariffs and their impact on competitiveness, no one had put any pressure on Grimaldi to reconsider.

Before any reduction could be applied, the group first had to consume what it had onboard in terms of bunker

On June 23, Grimaldi had announced that since Brent had reached $115 per barrel, it was increasing the BAF on some of its departures, keeping it unchanged on less popular trips in an effort to encourage a shift to these.

The BAF, which varied from €260 to €480 depending on the route, was increased by a flat rate of €50.

A spokesman for Sullivan Maritime said that before any reduction could be applied, the group first had to consume what it had onboard in terms of bunker.

“Grimaldi Group will then consider the value of the Brent for all the month of October and if it remains at today’s level, it might, at the end of October, decide to cancel the last adjustment of July 1, 2014.

“The Grimaldi Group will have to first assess the trend of the value for the overall month of October, meaning that within 15 days they will let us know whether it is possible to cancel the bunker adjustment factor referred to above.

“We therefore look forward to review the matter at the end of the month,” he said.

The Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry had not sent replies to e-mailed questions about its position – or lack of one – at the time of going to print.