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
25 August Shipping needs blue ammonia to decarbonise fast: study The shipping sector needs to adopt blue ammonia as part of the bunker fuel mix to achieve timely decarbonisation, and substantial growth of CO2 storage infrastructure could support this in the coming years, according to a study by Denmark's Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping.
25 August India's Acme secures land for Odisha green ammonia site Indian renewables developer Acme has secured land for a planned 1.3mn t/yr renewable ammonia plant in the eastern state of Odisha, and is teaming up with Japanese engineering firm IHI for the project.
24 August Titan performs first LNG bunkering for Hamburg Dutch shipping firm Titan has completed the first two ship-to-ship (STS) LNG bunkering operations in Germany's Hamburg port.
24 August Sweden's Biokraft commissions 220 GWh/yr bio-LNG plant Swedish biogas company Biokraft's biomethane liquefaction unit in Glado Kvarn has started operations and delivered a first batch of liquefied biomethane (Bio-LNG).
24 August Brazil's VP defends sooner B100 blend hike Brazilian biodiesel producers asked the government to bring forward the 15pc diesel blending mandate to 2024 from 2026, Brazil's vice-president and trade minister Geraldo Alckmin said.
24 August CNOOC, shipowners form JV to build six LNG carriers China's state-owned CNOOC has formed a joint venture with Japanese shipowner Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) and Chinese state-controlled shipowner China Merchants (CMES) to build six 174,000m³ LNG carriers.
24 August Argentina's biofuel price hike faces criticisms Argentina's government is facing rising opposition as it tries to keep fuel prices down amid spiraling inflation and depreciation of its currency.
23 August Dutch ReFuels building UK biomethane station European supplier of renewable biomethane ReFuels has begun construction of a bio-CNG refuelling station in southeast England.
23 August Kairos LNG bunkering vessel restarts operations The 7,500m³ LNG bunkering vessel Kairos has returned to operations after grounding near Amsterdam at the start of July, Germany's Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM) confirmed.
23 August China launches methanol dual-fuel container vessel The first Chinese-built methanol dual-fuel container vessel launched this month at Yangzhou in east China's Jiangsu province.
23 August China's Sinopec eyes three LNG carriers for US offtake China's state-owned Sinopec intends to order three 175,000m³ LNG carriers to help load its fob offtake from US firm Venture Global's planned 27.2mn t/yr Plaquemines terminal, Sinopec said in a regulatory filing.
23 August BW Lesmes LNG vessel runs aground in Suez Canal The empty 174,000m³ BW Lesmes LNG carrier ran aground in the Suez Canal on the evening of 22 August, before being hit by the Burri tanker and temporarily halting traffic through the canal.
22 August China Gas orders two LNG carriers Chinese gas distributor China Gas through its joint venture with Sea Jade Investment Limited, has bought two LNG vessels of 175,000m³ each from state-owned shipbuilder China State Shipbuilding's (CSSC) Dalian shipyard, the firm said on 21 August.
22 August EU sets out 'neighbouring' ports under ETS The European Commission is consulting on the designation of Egypt's East Port Said and Morocco's Tanger Med as neighbouring container transshipment ports under the bloc's revised emissions trading system (ETS).
22 August Rotor-sail Kamsarmax makes first voyage in Asia-Pacific A Kamsarmax bulk carrier fitted with rotor sails has completed its first voyage from China's Jiangyin city to Australia's Newcastle city on 26 July.
22 August Cargill to buy Granol biodiesel units in Brazil US trading firm Cargill will buy three crushing and biodiesel plants and four warehouses from Brazilian soy processor and biodiesel producer Granol.
21 August Avance Gas orders two more MGC LPG/Ammonia carriers Oslo-listed shipowner Avance Gas has purchased two more LPG/ammonia vessels, doubling its move into the ammonia midsize gas carrier (MGC) market.
21 August China's biodiesel, UCO exports rebound on month in July Chinese biodiesel and used cooking oil (UCO) exports rebounded in July as the arbitrage window to Europe widened since June.
21 August China mulls response to EU biodiesel trade probe China's chamber of commerce for metals, minerals and chemical importers and exporters (CCCMC) will hold a virtual meeting on 24 August for biofuels market stakeholders to discuss the EU's investigation into trade measure circumvention.
21 August EU UCO imports rebound in 2Q Used cooking oil (UCO) imports into the EU recovered during April-June after falling for two consecutive quarters, while soybean oil (SBO) imports were a quarter higher than in the same period last year, preliminary data from GTT show.
Conventional marine fuels
25 August LA vessel speed reduction participation remains strong Vessel owners have largely embraced a campaign to reduce pollution near the Port of Los Angeles by reducing speeds.
25 August Mideast Gulf boosts Russian product imports Countries in the Mideast Gulf have stepped up as important destinations for Russian products diverted away from Europe since the EU ban on imports from February. Overall Russian product shipments to the region jumped to 10.9mn t in January-June, from 4.6mn t a year earlier, according to shipping agents.
25 August Ardmore Shipping bunker fuel consumption rises Ireland-based shipowner Ardmore Shipping reported a 3pc increase on the year in conventional marine fuel consumption in its 2022 sustainability report.
25 August Fundamentals: Few demand bright spots Demand growth is slow in Europe, the US and most other key OECD countries. Brazil and India are offsetting this to some extent, while China remains the big unknown.
25 August US Atlantic coast prepares for refinery maintenance A pair of Atlantic coast refinery turnarounds is expected to take up to 500,000 b/d of capacity off line in September-November, but the US markets they serve are expected to remain stable barring unplanned outages.
25 August China bargain hunt begins Chinese oil demand is faltering as the country's economic slowdown starts to weigh on energy input requirements and imported crude becomes pricier.
24 August Singapore's oil product stocks at three-week high Singapore's onshore oil product inventories rose to a three-week high in the week to 23 August, with higher fuel oil and middle distillate imports to the city-state.
24 August Dardanelles partially reopened, backlog grows The Dardanelles reopened for northbound shipping traffic this morning, the Turkish coast guard has said, but the backlog of vessels waiting to pass has increased.
24 August Japan's Eneos runs Mizushima refinery B despite fire Japanese refiner Eneos hasbeen operating its 200,200 b/d Mizushima refinery B normally after a fire occurred on 23 August, with no impact on refining units.
23 August Low Mississippi River water spurs delay concern Declining water levels on the lower Mississippi River are fueling concern among barge carriers as shipping demand picks up moving into the fall.
23 August Europe heading for tight winter diesel market The structure of the Ice gasoil futures market suggests a strong expectation among traders that diesel supply in Europe will tighten as winter approaches, with values more steeply backwardated in the middle of the forward curve than at the front end.
23 August US' Corpus Christi LNG restarts loadings after storm The 162,500m³ BW Brussels LNG tanker berthed at Texas' 17mn t/yr Corpus Christi liquefaction facility earlier today, likely to load a cargo, after tropical storm Harold closed the port yesterday.
23 August BW Lesmes LNG vessel runs aground in Suez Canal The empty 174,000m³ BW Lesmes LNG carrier ran aground in the Suez Canal on the evening of 22 August, before being hit by the Burri tanker and temporarily halting traffic through the canal.
23 August European refining runs remain limited Refineries in the EU-15 and Norway cut crude runs by 1pc month on month in July, according to the latest data from Euroilstock, leaving runs 6pc down on the year as a cluster of inefficiencies hinder the industry.
23 August Ecopetrol overhauls managerial team Colombia's state-controlled oil company Ecopetrol has replaced four of its vice-presidents, most of them tied to its energy transition strategy.
22 August Brazil diesel, gasoline sales rise in July Brazil diesel sales ticked up in July — when demand from the agricultural sector typically slows down — while gasoline sales increased thanks to favorable economics against hydrous ethanol at the pump.
22 August Sinopec diesel tanker catches fire in South China Sea A tanker carrying diesel from Chinese state-controlled Sinopec caught fire in the South China Sea on the afternoon of 22 August, a refinery source with knowledge of the matter said.
22 August China raises July diesel exports on higher margins China's diesel exports hit a four-month high of 219,000 b/d in July and surged over threefold from 71,000 b/d in June owing to an open export arbitrage to Asia, data from the General Administration of Customs show.
22 August Price cap deters Brazil diesel imports from Russia Brazilian importers are buying less Russian diesel, instead returning to US Gulf coast refiners for the product.
22 August Sinopec diesel tanker catches fire in South China Sea A tanker carrying diesel from Chinese state-controlled Sinopec caught fire in the South China Sea on the afternoon of 22 August, a refinery source with knowledge of the matter said.
21 August Tropical storm Hilary hits Mexico's supply fuel routes Mexico's freight chamber (Canacar) and state-owned Pemex are devising alternate routes to ensure uninterrupted fuel supply in states near Pemex's Manzanillo terminal on the west coast, as tropical storm Hilary caused heavy rains last weekend, disrupting fuel supply.
21 August Japan's oil product output falls in April-June Japan's refined oil product output declined in April-June compared to last year because of refinery maintenance activities and operational challenges in the country.
21 August US Atlantic coast preps for fall refinery maintenance A pair of Atlantic coast refinery turnarounds are expected to take up to 500,000 b/d of refining capacity offline from September to November, but the US markets they serve are expected to remain stable barring unplanned outages.
21 August Kuwait breaks refinery records in May and June Kuwait's oil product exports hit an all-time high in June following record refinery output in the previous month, with both milestones driven by the ramp-up of the new 615,000 b/d al-Zour refinery.
21 August EU biodiesel imports fall 47pc on the month: GTT A decline in cargoes arriving from China and Argentina weighed on arrivals of biodiesel in the EU in June, but China remained the largest origin for EU biodiesel imports.
21 August Venezuela's dredging plans for key oil waterway drag Venezuela's state-owned PdV has no set date to dredge the navigation channel in Lake Maracaibo for crude produced around the area, although slightly larger but still only partially loaded cargoes continue to transit the route.
