Ship scrubber demand decreasing: Alfa Laval

  • 18/07/19

Swedish scrubber supplier Alfa Laval received fewer orders in the second quarter of the year, saying that uncertainties around the availability and price of new fuels contributed to lower demand from shipowners.

The company does not provide a specific number for scrubbers, but said orders for its PureSOx technology decreased significantly because of uncertainties in the marine industry, mainly regarding the availability and price of new fuel compatible with the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) sulphur emission limit.

The firm received 3,144 new orders in total in the second quarter, down by 33pc on the year earlier period. These included orders for pumping units and boilers. It said profit was 1.41bn kronor ($151mn) in the second quarter, a 26pc rise compared with the same quarter in 2018.

Alfa Laval, the world's second biggest scrubber supplier behind Finland's Wartsila, has supplied or taken orders for scrubbers on nearly 500 ships, according to shipping classification society DNV GL.

"We did expect a slowdown in orders for scrubbers in the second half of 2019. This follows a period of very strong demand with a long order book for Alfa Laval resulting in long lead times for new orders," said Alfa Laval chief executive Tom Erixon. The company said global scrubber demand could exceed 5,000 by 2023.

A ship fitted with a scrubber will still be allowed to burn fuel with more than 0.5pc sulphur content after the IMO sulphur cap is implemented on 1 January 2020. Shipowners that have installed scrubbers have done so confident about the high-to-low sulphur fuel price spread.

Shipowner Navig8 has said the payback on very large crude carriers (VLCCs) will be 6-8 months and will save up to $15,100/d in fuel costs, compared with running the tanker on marine gasoil (MGO). Navig8 bases this on an MGO and HSFO spread of $350/t. Spanish refiner Cepsa has said that this price spread could average more than $400/t next year.


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