Rotterdam’s LNG sales surged in 2023, biofuel sales declined
Rotterdam’s LNG bunker sales increased by a massive 52% last year, while biofuel-blended bunker sales fell by 5%.
Alternative bunker fuel sales by grade in Rotterdam since Q1 2022
Changes in Rotterdam alternative fuel sales between 2022 and 2023:
- Bio-VLSFO sales down from 635,000 mt to 600,000 mt
- Bio-HSFO sales down from 70,000 mt to 63,000 mt
- Bio-distillate sales up from 40,000 mt to 54,000 mt
- Bio-ULSFO sales down from 46,000 mt to 34,000 mt
- LNG sales up from 165,000 mt to 251,000 mt
- Methanol sales down from 1,500 mt to 750 mt
Total bio-blended bunker sales stood at 750,000 mt in 2023, down from 791,000 mt in 2022. This is roughly equivalent to 8% of total bunkers (conventional plus bio-blended) sold in 2023.
About 80% of biofuel blends sold across 2023 were bio-VLSFO, followed by bio-HSFO (8%), bio-MGO (6%) and bio-ULSFO (5%).
Total LNG bunker sales (fossil LNG) jumped from 165,000 mt in 2022, to 251,000 mt in 2023. LNG sales were at their highest since 2018. Meanwhile, no bio-LNG sales have been recorded since the third quarter of 2021.
By comparison, Rotterdam’s LNG bunker sales in 2023 were over twice the amount sold in Singapore. Bio-blended bunker sales were roughly 43% higher than Singapore’s sales across 2023. This makes Rotterdam the biggest bunker hub for both LNG and bio-blended bunkers in terms of volumes.
Methanol sales halved from 1,500 mt to just 750 mt in 2023. A major chunk of this was lifted by A.P. Moller-Maersk's methanol-fuelled vessel, which bunkered bio-methanol last year. It was supplied by OCI Global.
By Nithin Chandran
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