Antwerp’s LNG sales see record year despite Q3 drop
LNG bunker sales in the Port of Antwerp-Bruges slipped 22% to 69,000 mt in the third quarter, from an all-time high recorded last quarter, data from the Port Authority of Antwerp-Bruges showed.
Despite the fall in the quarter, LNG sales at the port have surged around 237% in the first three quarters of the year to 186,000 mt, compared to just 55,000 mt bunkered through the same period last year. LNG accounted for around 3% of all bunker sales at the port during the first three quarters of this year.
This puts the Belgian port’s 2025 annual LNG sales on track to be the best ever recorded, while also reducing the gap with neighbouring Rotterdam.
Comparatively, Rotterdam’s bunker sales have increased only 9% during the first three quarters to 331,000 mt, from 305,000 mt in the same period last year, data showed last month.
In the second-quarter, Antwerp’s bunker sales of 88,000 mt were almost equal to Rotterdam’s.
Conventional fuel sales show mixed trends
Meanwhile, fuel oil sales at Antwerp-Bruges have increased 3% to 4.6 million mt in the first three quarters of 2025, compared to the same period a year ago.
VLSFO sales have fallen 18% from January to September to 1.7 million mt, and ULSFO sales have increased 22% to 373,000 mt. This shift could partly be driven by the Mediterranean Emission Control Area (MedECA), where a sulphur limit of 0.10% has been enforced since May 2025.
HSFO sales have jumped 38% to 1.8 million mt in the first nine months of the year, compared to the same period last year.
HSFO’s share of the total bunker sales has in the first three quarters has increased to 29%, compared to 23% in the previous year, while VLSFO’s share has fallen from 37% to 28%.
Gasoil sales at Antwerp-Bruges for the first three quarters have increased 6% to 1.1 million mt, compared to the same period a year before. This came despite a 22% drop in sales from Q2 2025.
By Nachiket Tekawade
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