The opening of Peru's Chancay port next year likely will boost the country's bunkering demand and drive-up competition on the Latin American Pacific coast.
Able to accommodate larger ships and vessels equipped with marine exhaust scrubbers, the unveiling of the new facility — likely in the first quarter — could spur demand for very low-sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) and high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO).
Chancay, which is owned by Chinese state-owned port operating company Cosco Shipping and Peruvian mining company Volcan, has a 17.8-meter depth, compared with a depth of 16 meters in El Callao part, which is south of Chancay near Lima, Peru. Chancay's depth allows it to receive container ships with a capacity of up to 18,000 twenty-foot equivalent units
The larger vessels will likely take on around 3,000-5,000 metric tonnes of marine fuel in one port call, according to one source familiar with the Peruvian bunker market.
"The port is gradually beginning to receive container vessels, RoRo, and bulk carriers," said Augusto Ganoza, who heads Chilean bunker supplier Agunsa's operations in Peru. "I anticipate an increase in bunkering demand at Chancay, particularly if vessels call at Callao first and then proceed to Chancay, which I believe will be the case for most."
But bunker buying appetite in Chancay also will depend on marine fuel prices in China.
El Callao VLSFO was assessed at a $85/t premium to Zhoushan, China, in November. That differential tightened from its peak earlier this year at $143/t in April. That differential could temper the expected increase in bunkering demand in Peru.
Other market contacts from outside Peru said that any increase in demand stemming from Chancay's opening is unlikely to drag down activity in competing ports such as Panama, largely because of higher prices in Peru and better quality of bunker fuel available in Panama.
The VLSFO November monthly average in El Callao was $656/t, which was an $89/t premium to Panama VLSFO.
