Marine fuel global weekly market update

Market: Biofuels, E-fuels, Emissions, Fertilizers, Hydrogen, Natural gas, Oil products, Petrochemicals
11/09/23

Marine fuel global weekly market update

A weekly Argus news digest of interest to the conventional and alternative marine fuel markets. To speak to our team about accessing the stories below and access to Argus Marine Fuels, please contact marinefuels@argusmedia.com.

Alternative marine fuels

8 September CSS refuels ship with B24 bio-bunker fuel in Guangzhou China Shipping and Sinopec Suppliers (CSS), a joint venture between state-owned Sinopec and Cosco Shipping, has refuelled a vessel with bunker fuel blended with 24pc biodiesel (B24) at China's Guangzhou port.

8 September MGCs shifting to LPG from ammonia: Exmar The very large gas carrier (VLGC) market "continued to perform well" but medium gas carrier (MGC) and pressurized tanker demand slumped following weak ammonia demand in the first half of the year, said gas carrier owner Exmar.

8 September Methanol-to-hydrogen generator cuts emissions: Study New methanol-to-hydrogen generator technology for ships has the potential to improve vessel efficiency and substantially reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, according to a report by maritime consultancy Thetius.

7 September Pertamina, Pelindo tie up on Jakarta 'green' terminal Indonesian state-owned refiner Pertamina, through its subsidiary Pertamina International Shipping, and state-owned port operation company Pelindo have agreed to jointly develop the Jakarta Integrated Green Terminal (JIGT) in Kalibaru, north Jakarta.

7 September Lifecycle GHG calculation challenges shippers: DNV The shipping industry faces significant challenges in establishing how to calculate lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from alternative marine fuels, vessel classification society DNV said in its Maritime Forecast to 2050 report.

7 September Maersk and Amazon sign biofuel shipping deal Maersk has signed a 2023-2024 agreement with online retailer Amazon to transport 20,000 forty-foot equivalent containers powered by green bunkers.

7 September Gold Standard mulls biofuel, bio bunker VCM methodology Carbon registry Gold Standard has launched a consultation on a methodology for projects reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the shipping sector.

7 September Singapore eyes standards for ammonia use as bunker fuel Singapore-based Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD) and the Society for Gas as a Marine Fuel (SGMF) on 7 September signed a two-year agreement to form standards on the use of ammonia as a marine fuel.

7 September China's Cosco completes first B20 bunkering in Europe Chinese state-owned Cosco Shipping has successfully completed B20 marine biofuel bunkering at its vessel in Rotterdam on 1 September, the firm's first such bunkering in Europe.

7 September India's Avaada plans green ammonia project in Odisha Indian renewable developer Avaada said it plans to build a 500,000 t/yr green ammonia plant in the eastern state of Odisha but it has not provided a timeline for the project.

6 September Worldscale to exclude ETS costs from flat rates The Worldscale Association will exclude EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) costs from its tanker voyage flat rates when the regulation's shipping provision comes into effect next year.

6 September EPS to develop ammonia fueled engines Singapore's Eastern Pacific Shipping (EPS) has signed a deal to develop ammonia dual-fueled engines with MAN Energy Solutions, Hyundai Heavy Industries (Hyundai), and the China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC).

6 September GeoServe completes first biofuel bunker delivery Bunkering services firm GeoServe completed its first biofuel bunker delivery to a medium range (MR) tanker owned by shipowner Scorpio on 14 August.

6 September Indian ports receive interest for over 20 H2 projects India's ministry of ports, shipping and waterways (MoPSW) is seeing strong interest from firms looking to develop green hydrogen infrastructure at ports designated for development into hydrogen hubs.

6 September Adnoc to invest in 1.5mn t/yr carbon capture project Abu Dhabi state-owned Adnoc today said it will develop the Habshan carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) project, part of its accelerated decarbonisation plan.

5 September Netherlands consults on higher 2024 blending target The Dutch government plans to significantly lift the blending mandate for 2024 to support the scale up of advanced biofuels, and to reduce the multiplier for biofuels in maritime shipping, to restore the balance of biofuels use between road transport and sea shipping.

5 September Rigid sail Kamsarmax makes its first voyage to Brazil A Kamsarmax bulk carrier retrofitted with rigid sails set sail late last month on its first voyage from Singapore to Brazil, introducing another new marine technology to cut emissions and fuel use.

5 September Hudong-Zhonghua designs new 271,000m³ LNG carrier Chinese state-owned shipbuilder Hudong-Zhonghua has revealed a new LNG carrier with a capacity of 271,000m³, which would be the largest such vessel ever built.

4 September Japan's coastal shipping sector plans biofuel from UCO The Japanese coastal shipping sector will discuss use of biofuel produced from used cooking oil (UCO), targeting to cut CO2 emissions by 17pc by April 2030-March 2031 compared to 2013-14 levels.

Conventional marine fuels

8 September Bunker buyers must seek better info: Transparensea As more sustainable marine fuels enter the markets, buyers will need an even broader range of information than ever for purchasing decisions, said Sandi Ennor, president and chief executive officer of marine fuel brokerage Transparensea.

8 September Sulphur spreads invert in Europe's bunker fuel market Scrubber spreads in Europe's downstream bunker fuel market have inverted at some ports after reaching record lows, as a combination of factors have supported the price of higher-sulphur fuel oil grades.

8 September Sweden's Gothenburg refinery under maintenance Sweden's 106,000 b/d Gothenburg refinery shut down for maintenance on 4 September and will be offline for 4-5 weeks, operator Preem confirmed to Argus.

7 September Singapore middle distillate stocks near five-month high Singapore's onshore middle distillate stocks rose to nearly five-month highs because of a fall in exports from the city-state, although inventory levels are still lower than that in previous years.

6 September Scrubber spread in Skaw reaches near four-year low The price difference between high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) and very-low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) — known as the scrubber spread — at the ports of Skaw-Gothenburg reached its lowest this week since Argus began its VLSFO price assessment.

6 September Mexico's new refinery produces first fuels Mexican state-owned Pemex's new 340,000 b/d Olmeca refinery produced its inaugural straight-run primary gasoline from Maya crude this past weekend, ahead of the refinery's long-delayed start of commercial operations.

6 September Bank of America downgrades US refiners Bank of America (BofA) equity research analysts have downgraded their outlook for major US refiners, arguing that recently wide margins are peaking as refinery outages are resolved and plants transition to winter grade gasoline production.

5 September PetroPeru offers 8th fuel oil tender in 2023 State-owned PetroPeru has issued a tender for 200,000 bl of high-sulphur residual fuel oil (HSFO), its eighth so far this year.

5 September VLSFO prices flip to discount against crude in Europe Very-low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) prices in northwest Europe have returned to a discount against the front-month Ice Brent crude futures contract for the first time in almost four months, as rising supply east of Suez curbs eastbound fuel oil exports and continued Opec+ supply constraints support crude values.

5 September Tanker demand to outpace fleet growth: Bimco Crude and refined product tanker rates will be boosted next year by more cargoes, longer journeys and restricted fleet growth, according to shipping association Bimco.

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News

14/05/25

German road firms issued €10.5mn tender-rigging fines

London, 14 May (Argus) — German competition authorities have found seven companies guilty of co-ordinating tenders and contracts with order values usually of between €40,000 and €200,000. The German Federal Cartel Office (Bundeskartellamt) imposed fines totalling €10.5mn ($11.8mn) on seven road repair companies for customer and tender collusion, it announced on 13 May. The companies involved are AS Asphaltstrassensanierung, bausion Strassenbau-Produkte, Bitunovia, Gerhard Herbers, alles fur den Bau, Mainka Strassenunterhaltung, and Muritzer Oberflechentechnik (Mot). The companies AS, bausion, Herbers and Bitunova were found to have divided various clients from the federal states of Saxony, Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt among themselves across 2018 and 2019. In 2016-19, the companies bausion, Liesen, Mainka and Mot were discovered to have regularly co-ordinated on tenders from public contracting authorities in Brandenburg and, in 2016 and 2017, Saxony-Anhalt, and the companies Liesen and Mot also co-ordinated tenders in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The violations affected a large number of tenders and contracts from public contracting authorities such as municipalities and state road construction authorities. The orders included road repair measures including surface treatment, patching of road surfaces, crack repair or the supply of bitumen emulsion or chippings. In addition to breaking antitrust law, the bid agreements are also punishable under Section 298 of the Criminal Code. The findings came to a head when the German Federal Cartel Office carried out a search operation in August 2019 together with the Dusseldorf Public Prosecutor's Office and the North Rhine-Westphalia State Criminal Police Office. When setting the fine, it was taken into account that Bitunovia had co-operated with the federal office within the framework of the leniency programme. All proceedings were concluded by way of amicable settlement and the fine notices are final. By Fenella Rhodes Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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News

UK ethanol sector sees lower prices from US trade deal

14/05/25

News

14/05/25

UK ethanol sector sees lower prices from US trade deal

London, 14 May (Argus) — The UK ethanol sector expects prices to fall because of the recent trade deal with the US, but participants are divided on the scale of the effect. The trade deal has cut import duties on US ethanol to zero on higher volumes than recent import levels, raising the prospect of large amounts of US product crossing the Atlantic. The UK was the second largest destination for US ethanol exports in 2024, taking more than 923mn l, or 13pc of all exports, according to US industry group Renewable Fuels Association. The UK imposed a duty of £16/hectolitre ($21/hectolitre) for undenatured ethanol and £8.50/hectolitre for denatured ethanol, which the trade deal will remove. Zero tariffs will be applied to up to 1.4bn l/yr. European renewable ethanol association ePure told Argus the deal presents a "huge problem" for UK and EU ethanol producers, a view echoed by some UK market participants. But some active in the UK ethanol market have said that while they do not expect greater amounts of ethanol to arrive in the country, they do anticipate lower prices and lower domestic production. The operators of the UK's two major ethanol-producing facilities, Vivergo and Cropenergies, said there will be zero tariffs on "the size of the UK's whole ethanol market", and said they may have to close. According to Argus data the total UK production capacity for wheat-based ethanol is over 736mn l/yr. The National Farmers' Union expressed concern about the deal's effect on arable farmers, and said it is "working through what this means for the viability of the domestic bioethanol production." Although a healthy share of the total import pool from the US is waste-based, the UK government is consulting on whether to continue classing the main waste feedstock imported from the US as eligible for double counting under its renewable transport fuel obligation (RTFO). Staging post UK producers may still seek to maximise imports from the US for onward export into the EU. The current EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) allows for zero tariffs and quotas on all trade of UK and EU goods that comply with appropriate rules or origin. But with this new deal, there is an increased chance of US ethanol entering the EU via the UK, Epure said. "Under existing customs rules US ethanol can be mixed with UK ethanol and thus avoid an EU duty," it said. This may include major proportion, which limits the share of non-originating materials to claim UK origin, or inward processing relief, which allows for imports to be processed without paying import duties or value added tax (VAT) before re-export. Some market participants contested the extent to which UK-EU flows of ethanol with partial US origin might happen, suggesting the imported ethanol would need to undergo a significant chemical change to be classified as duty free, such as being used as feedstock for products including ethyl tert-butyl ether (ETBE). EPure said the EU should be wary, and called for ethanol to be included in a final list of products subject to EU countermeasures, as it was in a recent proposal from the bloc currently under public consultation. By Toby Shay Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

News

Mauritania weaves GTA project into industrial strategy

14/05/25

News

14/05/25

Mauritania weaves GTA project into industrial strategy

Paris, 14 May (Argus) — Offshore gas production could help to meet Mauritania's power demand by 2030 while also supporting mining activity, particularly of iron ore, energy minister Mohammed Ould Khaled told the Invest in African Energy forum today. BP last month loaded the first LNG shipment from its 2.7mn t/yr Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) joint venture in Mauritanian and Senegalese waters. GTA is export-oriented, but Mauritania could still tap the project for power, Khaled said, although he added that infrastructure would need to be built to facilitate this. A tender to build a power plant fired by GTA gas will be launched in the next couple of weeks, he said. Mauritania wants to become a regional power hub within 20 years, Khaled said, and hopes to see construction of a power link "to the north" — in the direction of Western Sahara/Morocco. The Mauritanian power grid is already connected to Senegal and Mali, he said. Future power generation projects will be funded by the private sector and incentivised through tax breaks, Khaled said, with 550MW set to become available to the domestic market through private-sector projects over the next couple of years. Mauritania is also looking for partners to develop the 50 trillion-60 trillion ft³ Bir Allah gas field for export and domestic markets. The area lies 50km north of GTA and exclusively in Mauritanian waters, according to Khaled, with two wells already having been sunk. Bir Allah is "three times bigger than GTA", he said. BP and Kosmos Energy signed an exploration and production-sharing agreement for the site in late 2022 , with BP saying gas from the field will be used to expand GTA to 10mn t/yr. It is unclear whether BP or Kosmos Energy are still partners in the Bir Allah development project. By George Maher-Bonnett Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

News

MUFG to invest $30mn in Japanese biofuels firm Euglena

14/05/25

News

14/05/25

MUFG to invest $30mn in Japanese biofuels firm Euglena

Singapore, 14 May (Argus) — Japanese bank MUFG has agreed to purchase up to $30mn of shares in Japanese biofuels developer Euglena, which will allow Euglena to increase its share in a joint venture to build a biorefinery in Malaysia. Euglena will issue the shares in stages via their overseas special purpose company Euglena Sustainable Investment (Esil). Esil currently owns a 5pc equity of the joint venture and plans to increase its share up to the maximum of 15pc with the new funding. The other partners are Eni's biofuels unit Enilive and Malaysian state-owned refiner Petronas' Petronas Mobility Lestari. The biorefinery started construction in the fourth quarter of 2024, and is scheduled to start operations in the latter half of 2028. It will have the capacity to process about 650,000 t/yr of raw materials, such as used vegetable oils, animal fats, waste from the processing of vegetable oils and other biomass including microalgae oils, to produce up to 725 kilolitres/yr of SAF, hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) and bio-naphtha. The biofuel developer, whose initial business was the cultivation of the microalgae Euglena for food, had previously also announced that it will put more emphasis on UCO procurement and SAF supply to domestic consumers. Euglena aims to achieve a production capacity of 100,000 t/yr of microalgae-based oil by the 2030s, and is currently working with Petronas' subsidiary Petronas Research in a joint study to establish technology for large-scale microalgae production. But microalgae has so far faced challenges in commercialising as a biofuels feedstock, including high production costs, difficulty scaling up and low lipid yields. By Deborah Sun Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

News

Ampol imports Australia's largest SAF cargo into Sydney

14/05/25

News

14/05/25

Ampol imports Australia's largest SAF cargo into Sydney

Sydney, 14 May (Argus) — Australian fuel retailer and refiner Ampol imported a cargo of nearly 2mn litres (700t) of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) into Sydney Airport on 7 May, marking the largest ever commercial SAF import into Australia. The fuel — sourced from Malaysia — was imported into Ampol's Kurnell facility near Sydney Airport, where the former's oil refinery has direct pipeline access into the airports refuelling the supply chain. There are no plans to import more SAF cargoes into Sydney Airport in the near term, a source close to the matter said. Ampol's managing director and chief executive officer, Matthew Halliday, said "this delivery marks Ampol's first major import of SAF into Australia and leverages our advanced supply chain infrastructure to deliver this product directly from a key domestic fuel terminal to the nation's busiest airport." Sydney Airport accounts for nearly 40pc of Australia's total jet fuel consumption, according to the airport's chief executive officer Scott Charlton. The announcement came a day after Ampol said it is shifting its focus to electric vehicle charging and renewable fuels , by selling its electricity retail businesses in Australia and New Zealand. Australian airline Qantas is the end user of the imported SAF cargo.The fuel, once blended at a ratio of approximately 18pc, could power the equivalent of 900 flights from Sydney to Auckland on Qantas 737 aircraft, Qantas said. This will cut resulting carbon emissions from those flights by a total estimated 3,400t, it added. Qantas is targeting 10pc of its fuel use to come from SAF by 2030 and approximately 60pc by 2050. Qantas' chief executive officer Vanessa Hudson said "the creation of a SAF industry is key to our efforts towards the decarbonisation of aviation, increasing Australia's fuel security and creating thousands of new jobs across our economy … we pick up 70pc of our fuel in Australia so we're looking forward to working closely with the government to chart the next course for SAF in Australia." This import of SAF follows the signing of an initial agreement between Qantas and Sydney Airport to work together to further facilitate the development of a domestic SAF industry in Australia. If established, domestic SAF production has the potential to contribute approximately A$13bn/yr ($8.4bn/yr) in gross domestic product by 2040, while supporting nearly 13,000 jobs in the feedstock supply chain and creating 5,000 new jobs to build and run the facilities, according to a Qantas and Airbus ICF report published in 2023. Consultations on a potential biofuels mandate in New South Wales (NSW) are expected to begin in the near future. NSW minister for climate change, energy and environment, Penny Sharpe, said "we want to see a strong domestic SAF industry here in NSW, which is a win-win for jobs, fuel security and the planet". By Tom Woodlock Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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