Rotterdam annual bunker sales rose in 2020

Bunker sales in the port of Rotterdam increased last year, as many contracts for supply were sealed before the demand-sapping effects of Covid-19 on global trade became clear.

Sales hit 9.38mn m³ in 2020, nearly 6pc more than in 2019, according to the port authority. This includes 3.5pc sulphur fuel oil (HSFO), 0.5pc sulphur fuel oil, marine gasoil with 0.1pc sulphur (MGO), and marine diesel oil (MDO), which has a variety of sulphur levels.

Many bunker supply contracts, especially for 0.5pc sulphur fuel oil, were fixed early in the year with big buyers like ExxonMobil and Shell, and these contracts lasted well into the year if not for all of 2020. Suppliers in Rotterdam said spot sales at the port were most likely lower than in 2019.

Last year was the first with the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) 0.5pc sulphur cap in force. HSFO had been the main marine fuel grade in use, but 0.5pc fuel oil took over following the 1 January introduction of the limit. This meant that more than half of the 7.52mn m³ of fuel oil sold in Rotterdam last year, or 4.11mn m³, was 0.5pc fuel oil. This was far higher than the 2.61mn m³ of HSFO sold.

HSFO sales fell sharply after the cap, but recovered to 843,000 m³ in the fourth quarter, more than 200,000 m³ higher than in any other quarter in 2020.

Throughout 2020 many ships were taken off the water to be retrofitted with scrubbers, which allow HSFO to be burned after the IMO sulphur cap, and by the end of 2020 most of these had returned to sea.

MGO sales totalled 1.40mn m³ in 2020, down by 6pc year on year. MGO sales peaked around the turn of 2020 because of concerns about the quality of new, IMO-compliant 0.5pc fuel oil blends. While there were some quality issues, the transition was relatively smooth. MGO sales began to decline and in the third quarter of 2020 were 299,000 m³, the lowest since at least the start of the port began keeping records in 2017.

Rotterdam is Europe's biggest bunkering location for conventional fuels and LNG. Sales of the latter reached 194,000 m³ in 2020, nearly triple the 72,000 m³ in 2019. LNG sales at Spanish ports also jumped last year as shipowners looked for ways to reduce CO2 emissions.

By George Collard and Nana Kutin