News
16/04/26
Rotterdam biomarine sales fall in 1Q
London, 16 April (Argus) — Marine biodiesel blend sales fell by 35pc in the
first quarter compared with the fourth quarter of last year, but were roughly
steady compared with the first quarter of 2025. Participants pointed to
lacklustre demand in January and February, with an uptick in March as the
US-Iran war led to Dutch B100 flipping to a discount against MGO . But these
discounts failed to support significant demand growth , as volatility weighed on
marine fuel trading activity and buyers hesitant to make significant changes to
their procurement strategy based on an acute price spread. Rotterdam's loss has
been Singapore's gain. Data from the Port of Singapore showed roughly a 13pc
growth in marine biodiesel blend sales on the quarter to the first quarter of
2026. This demand is attributed to FuelEU Maritime requirements, which came into
effect in 2025 and require ships coming in, out of, and operating within EU
waters to reduce emissions. Shipowners bunkering marine biodiesel in Singapore
for EU-bound voyages can use it for FuelEU Maritime compliance. And compliance
generated from bunkering marine biodiesel in Singapore can then be used to
achieve compliance on vessels operating European routes, via the pooling
mechanism, in which obligated companies can combine their compliance balance
with other vessels. Bio-LNG sales firmed by 28pc on the quarter in the first
quarter of 2026, generating over-compliance which has sold at a significant
premium to cost . This may have also weighed on marine biodiesel blend sales, as
bio-LNG volumes bunkered would have generated FuelEU compliance surpluses that
can then be sold on to vessels that do not have LNG-capable engines. This would
then potentially dampen FuelEU-driven demand from those vessels for marine
biodiesel blends, and many shipowners did opt to buy surpluses to meet FuelEU
requirements. But this dynamic may soon change because of the US-Iran war, where
the FuelEU used cooking oil methyl ester (Ucome)–MGO abatement ex-emissions
trading system (ETS) price was negative on 7 April. It has since returned to
positive levels, marked at €61.45/tCO2e on 15 April. But this remains
significantly below FuelEU compliance surplus levels, with offers seen at
€175-210/tCO2e, meaning it is currently cheaper to generate compliance using
marine biodiesel blends than to buy surpluses to meet the FuelEU requirements.
By Hussein Al-Khalisy Rotterdam bunker sales t Fuel 1Q 2026 4Q 2025 Q1 2025
q-o-q % y-o-y % ULSFO 162,142 219,039 187,031 -26 -13 VLSFO 439,804 745,786
789,218 -41 -44 HSFO 619,010 804,962 829,197 -23 -25 MGO/MDO 360,517 402,781
393,071 -10 -8 Conventional total 1,581,473 2,172,568 2,198,517 -27 -28 Biofuel
blends 104,630 161,934 104,037 -35 1 LNG (m3) 267,454 192,433 261,200 39 2
Bio-LNG (m3) 15,260 11,932 na 28 na Biomethanol 996 na 5,490 na -82 Port of
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