Asia/Pacific News
Bunkering Business Will Shift to North Asia
As trade patterns shift, more ships will bunker at Hong Kong, Shanghai, South Korean ports, and elsewhere in North Asia rather than in Singapore, Peter Hall, chief executive of the International Bunker Industry Association (IBIA) told industry news site Seatrade Global.
"As a natural progression of trade flows, it will make more sense to bunker at the load ports rather than halfway in between," he said.
"We will see the biggest changes over the next 10 years that we have ever seen in the marine fuel supply industry and IBIA wants to support that."
Hall said the trend of more mainline calls going directly from North Asia to the west will result in a levelling of the market, rather than there being any "big winners or losers," with bunker suppliers more evenly distributed across Asian ports.
He also noted Shanghai is setting an example for other port cities by encouraging the growth of a maritime services cluster in a special economic zone.
The industry also needs higher standards including the use of mass flow metering, he said, to ensure consistency across the various markets.
The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) recently announced its intention to make mass flow meters mandatory.
