EMEA News
Rotterdam Q1 Bunker Sales Drop to Lowest Level Since Q2 2022
Bunker sales at the Port of Rotterdam slipped on a quarterly basis in the first three months of 2023, reaching the lowest total since the second quarter of 2022 but remaining above the levels seen a year earlier.
Total conventional sales reached 2.48 million mt in the three months to March 31, the port authority said in data published on its website on Wednesday, up by 5.8% on the year but down by 5.3% from the previous quarter. This figure excludes biofuel blends, LNG, methanol and lubricants.
VLSFO sales gained 5.8% on the year to 984,034 mt in the first quarter, HSFO jumped by 14.5% to 809,871 mt, ULSFO advanced by 3.8% to 221,254 mt, MGO lost 10.1% to 258,137 mt and MDO climbed by 0.3% to 210,236 mt.
Of the conventional total in the first quarter VLSFO took up 39.6%, HSFO 32.6%, distillates 18.9% and ULSFO 8.9%. That compares with respective shares a year earlier of 39.6%, 30.1%, 21.2% and 9.1%.
LNG sales remained lower than historical levels after last year's record gas prices. In Q1 Rotterdam's LNG sales were 86,088 m3, down by 16.1% on the year but up by 46.9% from Q4's level.
Biofuel blend sales also declined. Rotterdam saw a total of 142,906 mt of these blends -- with an unspecified quantity of biofuel component in them -- sold in Q1, down by 6.6% on the year.
