Biofuel Bunker Snapshot: VLSFO pulls ARA biofuel blends down
VLSFO drives B30-VLSFO prices down in the ARA
Buyers increasingly exploring 2026 term contracts
New biofuel bunker supplier in Italy
Rotterdam
Diverging moves for underlying VLSFO and LSMGO prices have driven B30 blends in different directions in the past week.
ENGINE’s pure VLSFO benchmark for Rotterdam is down by $15/mt and Rotterdam’s HBE-rebated B30-VLSFO price has shed $13/mt. The ARA’s non-rebated B30-VLSFO UCOME price has dropped by $13/mt. Both of these B30 blends are made up of 70% VLSFO and are therefore heavily influenced by VLSFO price fluctuations.
Gasoil blends have moved in the opposite direction, driven up by a significant $32/mt gain in the underlying ENGINE LSMGO benchmark.
All B30 prices in Rotterdam and the wider ARA region have come under pressure from declines in POMEME or UCOME barge prices. Prima Markets has assessed POMEME and UCOME down by $8/mt on the week, to $1,524/mt and $1,509/mt, respectively.
A $7/mt weakening of the HBE ticket value, assessed by Prima, has put some upward pressure on Rotterdam’s HBE-rebated B30-VLSFO and B30-LSMGO prices, but not enough to counter the VLSFO, POMEME and UCOME declines.
Spot biofuel bunker demand was slow last week, according to an ARA bunker supplier. Customers are increasingly look to secure term contracts for 2026, but there are still some unknowns in the Dutch rebated biofuel market.
From 1 January, the HBE system will be replaced by a new ERE system. Bunker suppliers will have to generate ZRE credits to meet a domestic marine biofuel supply mandate. The value of those ZREs is not confirmed as the Dutch Emissions Authority is due to publish the final version of the ERE system in November or December.
In the past week, the value of HBEs for B30 blends has dropped by $7/mt to a one-month low of $181/mt. The HBE value for B100 has come off by $25/mt to $603/mt.
31 December will be the last day to generate HBEs.
Singapore
Singapore’s B30-VLSFO and B30-LSMGO prices have gained $10-12/mt on the week.
The B30-VLSFO price has come up despite a roughly steady pure VLSFO price and a $20/mt drop in Prima’s UCOME FOB China cargo price.
B30-VLSFO is currently priced $13/mt lower in Singapore than in Fujairah.
Singapore's B30-LSMGO price has risen amid a $14/mt increase in pure LSMGO.
The freight rate for UCOME from China to Singapore has also dropped, but by a modest $0.25/mt to $16.50/mt.
Other bio-bunker news
Italian Enilive has launched biofuel bunker operations in Genoa and Ravenna. Enilive is a subsidiary of Eni and now supplies hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) biofuels produced from used cooking oil, animal fats and agri residues.
Thailand’s Regional Container Lines (RCL) has run a vessel on biofuels for the first time. Its containership Paya Bhum bunkered B24-VLSFO in the Thai port of Laem Chabang and sailed to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.
By Erik Hoffmann
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