EMEA News
IBIA CONVENTION: Glander Notes Drop in Average Fujairah Bunker Stem Size
The average bunker stem size in Fujairah has taken a fall in recent years in response to changing demand patterns, according to global marine fuels firm Glander International Bunkering.
Sean Burgin, a team leader and senior purchaser at Glander, discussed changes his firm had seen in Middle East bunker demand in a panel session at the IBIA Annual Convention 2023 in Dubai on Wednesday.
"Taking it back to 2019, you had vessel attacks near to Fujairah which impacted our market in the short term; it added a significant war risk premium which is still there today," Burgin said.
"That has heavily impacted the VLCC market, which we've seen significantly reduced in terms of the premium in costs that they now have, and the ability to idle for bunker-only calls.
"Gone are the days of the nice three, four, five thousand-tonne stems we would see on a regular basis.
"The average stem size is down to 600-700 mt, which is a lot lower than it used to be."
Fujairah saw about 5.29 million mt of bunker sales in the first nine months of the year. Taking 650 mt as the average stem size, this would suggest a total of 8133 stems in that period, or just over 900 per month.
Singapore, the world's largest bunkering hub, had an average stem size of about 1,228 mt in the first nine months of 2023.
