1 June 2026
Fuel Levy Update – June 1st 2026
1 June update — Good News – levy falls across the board; TFB absorbing every route from our warehouse. Carrier-published levy rates have dropped from 37.65% to 29.81% for Brisbane, Sydney and Adelaide — the largest single fall since the crisis began. Perth has eased from 43.20% to 34.60% and Melbourne from 34% to 29%. Rather than pass the residual surcharge through, TFB has folded the full cost into its base costing, so every interstate route from our warehouse shows $0 fuel levy surcharge this week.
The fall tracks Brent crude sliding roughly 15% through May to about US$93/bbl, and Perth terminal gate diesel easing to ~191¢/L by 29 May, as markets priced in a US–Iran ceasefire and the prospect of the Strait of Hormuz reopening.
The trend at a glance
Thirteen periods of carrier-published fuel levy rates, charted below. Brisbane, Sydney and Adelaide share the same carrier schedule (so they sit on the same line); Perth has its own. Note: the lines below show the underlying carrier rates. All five capital-city routes are fully absorbed by TFB this week — no surcharge flows through to any TFB customer invoice.
Bean Growers Australia
Bean Growers Australia has updated it’s own extraordinary fuel levy surcharge, which has eased again this week in line with the fall in carrier diesel costs. The figures below are the latest published BGA rates ex Kingaroy. This week TFB will absorbs the fuel levy in full on Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne — so none of those surcharges reach a TFB customer invoice. On Adelaide, TFB partially absorbs the levy, passing through just $30/pallet against BGA’s $57.21.
Medium-term risks that aren’t in today’s prices
Today’s lower levy reflects a falling crude price and an easing terminal gate diesel cost — but the relief is contingent and a known step-up is already on the calendar. Three specific risks are visible in the supply chain but are not priced into the current levy:
⚠️ The risks visible from here
- 30 June excise cliff (4 weeks away). The temporary halving of fuel excise (26.3¢/L) and the zero Heavy Vehicle Road User Charge concession both expire on 30 June. Energy Minister Chris Bowen has signalled the cut is still viewed as temporary, with the government continuing to monitor conditions rather than commit to an extension. Without one, retail diesel steps up by roughly 26.3¢/L (about 28.9¢/L including GST) overnight on 1 July — a jump that would flow into carrier freight levies within a fortnight or two, partly reversing today’s fall.
- Ceasefire is not yet a settlement. The crude price fall rests on a tentative US–Iran arrangement to extend the ceasefire and potentially permit unrestricted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. As of late May the terms had not been formally approved, and prior ceasefire windows saw traffic recover only slowly. A breakdown would push Brent — and diesel — back up quickly.
- Hormuz recovery remains gradual. Even under a holding ceasefire, analysts expect tanker flows to normalise slowly: mines need clearing, war-risk insurance remains elevated, and damaged infrastructure and shut-in production take time to restart. Asian refineries that supply Australia continue to source more crude from Canada and the US to compensate for Middle East disruption.
The 30 June cliff in particular is a scheduled event that is likely to push levy percentages back up within one or two fortnightly reviews after 1 July unless extended. The EIA’s May Short-Term Energy Outlook expects Brent around US$106/bbl through May–June before falling to ~US$89/bbl in Q4 2026 and US$79 in 2027 — but that path is highly contingent on the diplomatic track holding.
This week’s sources
- MHD Supply Chain / CTAA — “Diesel prices stabilise but remain above pre-conflict levels”, 18 May 2026 (link)
- Trading Economics — Brent crude oil (US$93.26/bbl, 31 May 2026; ~15% monthly fall on ceasefire reports) (link) · Fortune oil price report, 29 May 2026 (link)
- BP Terminal Gate Pricing, 29 May 2026 (Perth diesel ~191.46¢/L) (link) · AIP TGP data, updated 29 May 2026 (link)
- WhichCar — “Fuel excise cut unlikely to continue beyond June”, 23 May 2026 (link) · SBS News — fuel excise extension reassessment, 26 May 2026 (link)
- US EIA Short-Term Energy Outlook, May 2026 (link)
TFB Trading freight costs are per pallet, rounded to the nearest whole dollar. Fuel levy % is the carrier-published rate applied to the base freight rate and reviewed regularly; this week TFB is absorbing the levy in full on all routes from our warehouse, so no surcharge appears on customer invoices. Bean Growers Australia figures represent the extraordinary fuel levy surcharge on freight-inclusive pricing, plus GST, as published by BGA, and are shown for industry reference only. Contact TFB Trading for your specific account rates.