Biofuel Bunker Snapshot: Prices continue to fall in Singapore and Rotterdam

Rotterdam’s bio-bunker sales fell by 11% in Q2

Singapore’s B24-VLSFO premium over VLSFO remains steady

Singapore

The port’s B24-VLSFO UCOME price has declined by $10/mt in the past week, while its B24-LSMGO UCOME price has come down by $19/mt.

A $10/mt drop in the UCOME FOB China benchmark - a Chinese UCOME export cargo price - has put downward pressure on the two B24 bunker benchmarks. PRIMA Markets assessed the UCOME FOB China benchmark at $980/mt last Friday. It says pricing activity for Chinese UCOME FOB in bulk was mostly muted last week because of impending EU tariffs on Chinese biodiesel imports.

A supplier indicated Singapore's B24-HSFO UCOME at $649/mt on Thursday, which was $13/mt higher than the benchmark was assessed at on Thursday, and about $157/mt higher than pure HSFO.

Singapore suppliers sold about 2,500 mt of bio-HSFO (most likely B24-HSFO) in June, which was down from 5,300 mt sold in May. Bio-HSFO accounted for just 5% of the total bio-blended bunkers sold in the port in June.

Singapore’s B24-VLSFO price premium over pure VLSFO has remained steady at $113/mt, while its B24-LSMGO premium over pure LSMGO has widened by $3/mt to $90/mt in the past week.

Rotterdam

Rotterdam’s B30 LSMGO HBE price has dropped by $23/mt in the past week, outpacing its B30-VLSFO HBE price decline of $16/mt. The two benchmarks have declined amid similar falls for pure LSMGO ($26/mt) and pure VLSFO ($16/mt).

The Dutch HBE rebate for B30-VLSFO HBE bunkered in the Netherlands has gone up by $2/mt to $82/mt over the past week. POMEME-based biofuel blends can qualify for advanced biofuel rebates through the Dutch HBE system.

PRIMA assessed the POMEME price in the ARA down by $20/mt in the past week, to $1,363/mt. This has put more downward pressure on B30-VLSFO and B30-LSMGO HBE prices in Rotterdam.

Palm oil mill effluent methyl ester (POMEME) is produced from palm oil methyl ester (POME), which is a by-product generated during palm oil processing. Indonesia exports a substantial amount of POME to China, where it is processed into POMEME and exported to countries in Europe.

It is unclear whether EU biodiesel refineries will import POME directly from Indonesia and process it into POMEME for marine biofuels or other applications. Some biodiesel refineries in the Netherlands, Italy and Spain are capable of converting POME into POMEME, Faris Razanah Zharfan told ENGINE. He is the founder of the Indonesian waste-based biofuel firm Beli Jelantah.

Rotterdam sold about 234,000 mt of bio-blended bunkers in the second quarter, down by 11% from the first quarter. Nearly 70% of the bio-bunkers sold in the second quarter were VLSFO-blended.

Rotterdam remained the world's biggest bio-bunker port, with around 45% more sold than Singapore in the second quarter.

Rotterdam’s price for B30-VLSFO UCOME - which does not qualify for Dutch HBE rebates - has come down by $16/mt in the past week. The UCOME-blend is still priced $75/mt higher than B30-VLSFO HBE blends, such as those with POMEME.

By Nithin Chandran

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