News
23/10/24
Biomethanol, fuel oil demand up in Rotterdam port 3Q
London, 23 October (Argus) — Bunker fuel oil and biomethanol sales at the port
of Rotterdam rose in the third quarter of this year, but those of gasoil and
marine biodiesel fell, according to official port data. Very-low sulphur fuel
oil (VLSFO), ultra-low sulphur fuel oil (ULSFO), and high-sulphur fuel oil
(HSFO) sales all picked up on the quarter and on the year ( see table ).
Participants attributed the increase in HSFO demand to the seasonal arrival of
containerships at the port. HSFO demand rose in the previous quarter owing to
re-routing of vessels because of chronic traffic disruption in the Red Sea.
Ahead of the Mediterranean Sea becoming an emission control area (ECA) in May
2025, participants had pointed to expectations of firmer ULSFO demand in Europe
for scrubber-less vessels operating between ECA zones. Vessels operating in ECA
zones are be required to burn marine fuels with a sulphur content no higher than
0.1pc, rather than the global cap of 0.5pc. Combined sales for marine gasoil
(MGO) and marine diesel oil (MDO) fell on the quarter and on the year in
July-September. Market participants reported mostly lacklustre bunker fuel
demand in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) hub in that time, combined with
tight prompt availability that weighed further on sales. Marine biodiesel blend
sales declined sharply owing to a shift in voluntary demand east of Suez. B24
dob Singapore, a blend comprising VLSFO and used cooking oil methyl ester
(Ucome), was an average of $715.56/t in July–September. This is lower than
comparable assessed European blends, such as B30 Ucome dob ARA that averaged
$804.71/t, B30 advanced fatty acid methyl ester (Fame) 0 dob ARA — which
includes a deduction of the value of Dutch HBE-G renewable fuel tickets — at
$738.12/t, and B24 Ucome dob Algeciras-Gibraltar at $784.12/t. Consequently
containerships seeking to deliver proof of sustainability (PoS) documentation to
their customers, to offset the latter's scope 3 emissions, shifted their marine
biodiesel demand to Singapore when feasible. PoS can be obtained on a
mass-balance system, allowing shipowners flexibility with regards to the port at
which a blend can be bunkered. Biomethanol sales at the port of Rotterdam more
than doubled on the quarter and soared by more than eight times on the year.
Several shipping companies are leaning towards methanol and renewable methanol
as alternative marine fuels to reduce their emissions. Danish shipping giant
Maersk has ordered 24 methanol-powered container ships for delivery and
commissioning during 2024-25, and Japanese classification society ClassNK said
recently it expects 77 methanol-ready ships to be ordered by 2026, up from 27
newbuilds expected to be ordered this year. ESL Shipping said earlier this month
it will build four new vessels that can run on biomethanol and green
hydrogen-based e-methanol. Offtake agreements for renewable methanol are on the
rise. Maersk has signed several letters of intent for procurement of biomethanol
and e-methanol from producers such as Norway's state-controlled Equinor , Proman
and OCI Global . Maersk has agreed to buy 500,000 t/yr from Danish shipping and
logistics company Goldwind from 2024. Singaporean container shipping group
X-Press Feeders said in 2023 it will buy biomethanol from OCI's Texas plant
starting this year. By Hussein Al-Khalisy, Natália Coelho, and Evelina Lungu
Rotterdam bunker sales t Fuel 3Q24 2Q24 3Q23 q-o-q% y-o-y% VLSFO & ULSFO
1,045,774 917,253 997,356 14.0 4.9 HSFO 906,737 825,125 790,195 9.9 14.7 MGO &
MDO 334,752 369,267 379,142 -9.3 -11.7 Marine biodiesel blends 137,177 235,043
183,249 -41.6 -25.1 Total 2,424,440 2,346,688 2,349,942 3.3 3.2 LNG (m³) 220,120
242,931 204,418 -9.4 7.7 Biomethanol 2,066 950 250 117.5 726.4 Port of Rotterdam
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