South Asia Suppliers Address Bunker Quality Rumours

The rumours began circulating the South Asia bunker markets last week,

Local players in Pakistan have addressed rumours that began circulating the South Asia bunker markets last week regarding purported bunker quality issues in the country.

Ship & Bunker spoke to two physical suppliers who said they were aware of the rumours, but that they were not experiencing any issues themselves.

"Rumours are spreading in the market about product quality issues, and it may be some other suppliers have [the quality problems] but Orion Bunkers Limited has no issues at all," a spokesperson at Orion Bunkers Limited (Orion Bunkers) told Ship & Bunker, adding that their ability to guarantee quality was boosted from being in operation since 2004.

"We always provide bunkers under the ISO 8217:2005 specs and are a sister concern of Pakistan-based Oil Marketing Company (OMC) Hascol Petroleum Limited (Hascol). In addition, State Oil is also our vendor."

Similarly, a spokesperson for Ocean Bunkers Limited also said they had heard the rumours but were not affected.

"We do not have this kind of specs problem. We always buy good quality products through reliable sources, for example State Oil Co. If good quality fuel is not available with State Oil Co, we always regret to our customers," a spokesperson told Ship & Bunker.

Ocean Bunkers Limited also suggested buyers avoid buying "cheap or unrealistic fuel" from any supplier, particularly new suppliers in Pakistan, before fixing their vessel.

"Buyer must check the background of the supplier to make sure that they are a genuine supplier, and not [for example] a fisherman acting as supplier," they said.

A separate source, who asked not to be named, told Ship & Bunker that Pakistan has what are known as "seasonal" suppliers, that may come from various backgrounds, and only sell bunkers on a temporary basis while market conditions permit.

While it is unclear where the rumours started, the source speculated they may have been started by such a seasonal supplier who could no longer compete with the established players.