Vladivostok April Bunker Sales Plummet 76% Year-on-Year

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Friday May 6, 2016

April bunker volumes at the Port of Vladivostok have fallen more than 76 percent year-on-year on the back of a sharp decrease in stem size, according to data from the Authority of Sea Ports of Primorsky Krai and Eastern Arctic provided to Russian market specialists IAA PortNews.

Including its offshore bunkering locations, year-on-year volumes were reported to be down to 35,607 metric tonnes (mt), from 146,456 mt during the same period last year.

Of the 35,000 tonnes supplied during the period, one third of that volume is reported to have been supplied at Vladivostok's associated offshore western, eastern, and inner anchorage locations, with the remaining two thirds sold at the port itself.

Some 24,500 mt of the sales was HFO, and the balance distillate grade product.

Despite the drop in volumes, the number of bunkering operations completed at the port and associated areas is said to have actually increased, from 275 in April last yearto 304 this year, suggesting the average stem size fell from 533 mt to just 177 mt.

Approximately 50 percent of vessels bunkered were said to have been registered to Russia.

In July, Ship & Bunker reported that Russia passed a bill to make Vladivostok a customs-free zone in the port a reality, as well as tax incentives for companies operating in the zone.